You Cannot Save the World
by Lady Celestial Star
Summary: Dumbledore left Harry Potter back in the Muggle world, and now it's time to bring him back to go to Hogwarts. Unbeknownst to him, the youth he is expecting is not what he seems. Harry Potter is no longer the Boy-Who-Lived, he has another title and he has more important things to do with his time.
1. Chapter 1

**This story was the winning selection for the poll I have on my Profile page. I have WAY too many stories going around in my head to do them all at once, so you the readers get to vote and see what order the stories are posted on here. Some may go to AO3 and some may go here. If you've read HLBN (Harry's Little Black Notebook) or Exploring Harry Potter's Life you'll recognize the Rangers Organization.**

**I hope you all will like this, it's not what most people will suspect. **

**I don't own Harry Potter.**

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Mission: 496944546

Area: 4979490984844

It was a clear night, the wind gently blew the sand across the ground, attempting to bury any struggling flora trying to survive in the desolate wasteland. Blowing the chill night air that contrasted against the harsh heat that was present during the day around the dunes. The desert was vast and empty, except for one thing...

Standing before the base of one of the larger dunes, there was a large stone fortress, a silent structure with men walking on it's ramparts. It was a souvenir from the foreign legion days of old, but now...it took on a more vile purpose. The walls were decrepit and eroding away from the continuous sand that scratched away the surface of the stones leaving the surfaces almost smooth in parts.

This fortress, that once used it's solid walls to protect against the enemy of freedom and righteousness, was now used to hoard...and it wasn't food, precious metals or stones, or even information...it was people. An ironic twist for this structure that stood for defending the people. Most of the people currently within the walls preferred to be elsewhere, even off this earthly plain. Poor souls that were bought and sold on illegal markets, and forced to take part in activities that they would never have done normally with people they would rather have never known existed.

They were slaves, personal, medical, sex, punishment...whatever anyone could come up with, these people had a slave for that need, and in any shape or form they wanted...for the right price. They were ripped from their past lives, their homes, their workplaces, the streets...anywhere were a truck or van could execute a quick getaway. These vile fiends had been in business for a while, having the corner on the slave market, no one was selling humans without their cut of the profits.

The men were paid to keep the people inside, to keep them prisoners, not giving them even the most simplest of freedoms, seeing the light of day. The slaves' skins were a pale color, and their eyes were beginning to weaken, along with their spirits. Soon, the biggest shipment of _merchandise_ would be distributed.

They were walking along the top of the wall, their rifles drawn and ready. They had never had an attack, but the ones that pay for their time, felt it was never an option to be knocked off guard...not that anyone would come by coincidentally in the middle of a desert.

However, all the preparations meant nothing. For something, something they could never hope to counter, was on it's way to shut it down permanently, and bring an end to the guards.

If they had looked up to the moon, they would have seen a lone figure stood out fiercely against the white orb. It was a _person_, with large wings, one feathered and translucent, the other leathery, like that of a bat, but the light of the moon could still be seen faintly.

The figure sighed "How could they not find this place, this all could have been dealt with months ago...I hope they don't raise too big a fuss, I'm not in the mood to fight."

His head twitched slightly.

"I'm tired, it's been a long day..." said the figure to the empty space around him.

His head twitched again.

"If they push it, then fine, but not just because you're bored." said the figure.

The figure pulled up his legs, and then shot to the ground like a sniper's bullet, the dark clouds behind him blew apart and dissipated into the air. Once he had hit the ground, the walls surrounding the fortress cracked and crumbled down, leaving a bare skeletal perimeter around the fort's compound. The people that happened to be on the ramparts were buried underneath the tons of stone that were knocked loose, killing them.

The figure looked around, the wings wrapped around like like a protective barrier. "Don't tell me that's all the men they had, for an operation this big, they should have had more people." he said with a disappointed tone.

His head twitched once more.

"Let them be, they're dead, there's no point..." said the figure shaking his head.

He looked around at the silent fort, but all of a sudden, the sound of footsteps came to his ears, growing louder and louder as the people hidden below the fortress made their way up to see what had happened.

"What's going on?"

"What happened to the walls?"

"What's that?"

"Who's that?"

The figure looked over to them, slowly removing the wings, to reveal himself. He was a small boy, perhaps no older than eleven, he had long black hair, white skin and fiery green eyes. There was a scar that cut from his forehead, straight down his eye, and ended on his neck. He was dressed all in black, except for a red tiger lily in the button hole of his little suit.

The men stared.

The boy turned and faced them, a gentle smile on his face. "You've got one chance, let all the people below go, if you don't..."

"Get him!" shouted one of the more braver men and they began to rush the boy. But the boy didn't move, instead, he took out from behind him a large ebony staff with a large white crystal perched atop it.

"Idiots..._Heavenly Tnemegduj!" _whispered the boy as he swung the staff in front of him.

Shards of light appeared out of the staff, and they hovered in midair.

"What is that?"

"Where did those come from?"

"What did he say?"

Then the shards became parallel to the ground, and in the moonlight, they turned black and impaled themselves into everyone that had climbed above ground.

"ARGGHHH!" screamed several people as the shards ripped through their bodies until they were reduced to nothing but mere fragments and puddles of thick red liquid collecting in small areas or dripping down vertical surfaces.

"One chance, that's all you get." said the boy softly, and just as a cloud passed over the moon...his calm face was replaced with a sadistic and manic smile and his eyes were widened, as if a wave of madness blasted through it. "You should have played nicely...you don't play nice..." he swung his staff over the nearest and largest piece of flesh, slicing it in half. It slowly turned silver and became a large glittering sword, dripping in blood.

"You get broke."

Seven figures stood on a far sand dune, watching the episode from a safe distance.

"Ugh...I hate it when he goes dark, he creeps me the hell out." said one of the figures shivering. He was a grizzled looking man, who had a quiver and bow slung on his back. He wore animal skin around like a tunic and a straw hat on his head, he looked no older than forty. "And I don't creep out easily."

"I still can't believe that's the Boy-Who-Lived." said one of the other figures, a willowy woman with long platinum blonde hair and a halo of light around her middle. She was wearing a tight fitting leotard that had a slash around her middle where the light was, exposing her midriff..

"What can you expect, Cosmo?" said a tall, masked, tanned, beefy man with spikes on his knuckles. "The poor kid didn't exactly have a happy childhood, it's no wonder he's damaged sometimes."

"Force, mind your tongue." said another figure, medium built dark man, dressed in black with two swords on his back. "He is the Star Captain, and demands your respect, he has seen more than all of you have seen in your lifetime."

"C'mon Longsword, you gotta admit, the kid is off-balanced." said another figure, a woman in her early twenties with a blonde pixie cut. She wore bell bottom pants and a shirt that had sleeves that extended almost two feet beyond her hands.

"If you think I'm so off balance Ctenizidae, put in a transfer." said a cold voice coming from behind them. They all turned and saw the youth that was just off at the fortress not a moment ago. The same manic light dancing in his eyes.

"Oh! Uh...hello Cap'n." said Ctenizidae, throwing up a concealed hand in salute and an embarrassed smile. "I'd never abandon you! What would you do without me?"

The youth laughed darkly. "I'd have less accidents happen on missions."

"That's not fair." pouted the blonde.

"Sir, Are the people secured?" asked Longsword.

"No...I left that for you all to handle. I need to get back to Headquarters, Yang is beginning to act up again." said the youth he ran his fingers through his hair. He looked up to Longsword with his bright green eyes, the evil glint gone. "I want a full report when you get back."

"Yes Star Captain." said Longsword bowing low, and with a flash of white light, the Star Captain was gone. "Come, we have work to do." they left the dune and ran, or levitated over to where the fortress lay.

"I noticed something, how come you never say 'sir' to him when he talks nice?" asked Force.

"I think it's because Star Captain Yin acts like a girl when he's nice and sweet." said Ctenizidae teasingly, "The Lieutenant probably almost says _ma'am_."

"Don't be foolish, now, let's be quick, the Healers at the Northern Sanatorium are waiting for everyone here." said Longsword sternly, as he led the rest of the Rangers to the ruined fortress. He'd have to make Ctenizidae go through the Training room a few times without her insects. Such disrespect towards Captain Yin, he would not let that slide.

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**Thanks for reading. Sorry this is so short, but you know, I've always been good about putting teaser chapters first for the stories, to get people interested. **

**Please review!**

**QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER!**

**Because of the recent passing of Robin Williams, what was your favorite Robin Williams movie?**

**Mine would be a draw between Aladdin (1 and 3) and Hook. I just love zany he was! **

_**RIP Mr. Williams**_


	2. Chapter 2 The Last Meal Diner

**I'm glad that people are really responding positively to this story. It's a direction no one was really suspecting, but the first rendition I did of it, I didn't like it, so I created that darker side of Harry and I have to say, I like him. **

**I don't own Harry Potter.**

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The young man entered the darkened room, turning the switch on beside the door and breathing in the relaxing scent of the lilac tree that was growing out of the middle of the room. The walls were a pale blue with beautiful tapestries of mythical creatures on one side and the other held weapons of all different descriptions on the other.

He put his staff carefully in a large glass case beside the first unicorn tapestry, and collapsed into the sofa before the fireplace, which was crackling merrily with a warm fire.

"I'm hungry." came a growling voice from apparently no where.

"Dinner's not for another half hour." said the young man to the voice. "Just hold on."

"I don't want to." snapped the voice. "I played nice with the lackeys, I deserve a treat."

"Yes you did Yang, I'm amazed that they didn't die of shock." said the youth with a smile.

"You don't let me loose around them." said Yang.

"And you wonder why? I don't need to fill out paperwork on fallen comrades when they upset you." said Harry with a smile.

"They should be used to me by now." grumbled Yang.

"Yes...but you do have a short temper." said Harry. "You nearly killed the new recruits two years ago."

"They sneezed on me..." said Yang.

"They was no where near you." said Harry with a sigh.

_Knock Knock_.

"Tell them to go away." said the Yang.

"_Be quiet...you know others get creeped out when they hear a voice they can't see_." said Harry.

"Then maybe they shouldn't have Legilimency training." said Yang.

"_It's, required._" said Harry with a sigh. "Come in."

"Let them hear, this'll teach them to get used to it." said Yang shortly.

In came a tall, blonde haired, scarred and fairly muscular man. He smiled at the young man who was draped across the couch near the fire.

"Hard day at work?" said the man with a smile.

"Tch, it's the old man, tell him to get lost." said Yang.

"I can hear you Yang...You're so loud sometimes." said man with laugh.

"What can I do for you, Chief Lionus?" said Harry.

"You know better..." said Lionus with a smirk. "I thought I'd take you to dinner, it's been a while since the three of us had a nice chat."

"Stuff it, gramps, we'll eat alone just fine." snapped Yang.

"That's enough, Yang. We'll be happy to go to dinner with you, Yang was getting hungry anyway." said Harry, easing himself off the couch.

"Really? Did you actually do something today, Yang? That's a first." said Lionus with a teasing smile.

"DON'T MAKE ME KILL YOU!" shouted Yang.

"I'm more frightened if Yin said that he was going to kill me." said Lionus with a wink to Harry. "Come on, I'm starving..."

"Yeah, cause you burn a lot of calories and energy signing papers." muttered Yang.

Harry rolled his eyes. He walked beside the man as they strolled down the hallways, plain white walls, with the pictures of fallen Rangers alongside, their names, the date of their deaths, abilities and their captures.

"We haven't talked much, and I'm sorry for that." said Lionus as they walked in silence.

"That's alright, Lionus." said Harry walking beside the man, he only came up to the man's waist. "You've had a lot of duties thrown on you now that you're Chief, and I've had a lot of missions and criminals that needed my attention as well. I think my squad and a few of the newer recruits need a bit more training, so that'll take some of my time, but I haven't had anything really that difficult to work on."

"You won't, not for a very long time." said Lionus wit a smile.

Harry looked up at the man, a frown on his face.

"What's the old fart talking about?" said Yang.

"I'll tell you all about it over dinner." said Lionus.

They reached the end of the hallway, the white walls gradually turned to black, there were dark ebony doors with even darker silk drapes that accented the opening. In gold letters etched into the wood, it read:

_The Last Meal Diner._

"Well, what are you hungry for tonight?" said Lionus looking down at Harry.

"Steak! Rare!" said Yang excitedly.

"I haven't decided yet...maybe lobster and a salad." said Harry.

"You two are so different." said Lionus with a laugh.

He opened the door and strode inside. The host came up and smiled at the two of them.

"Chief Lionus. Star Captain Yin-Yang." said the host with a smile. "It's a honor to see you today!"

"Yeah, like we don't eat here for every stinking meal." muttered Yang.

The host heard Yang and flinched slightly.

"Ignore him." said Harry. "Thanks for letting us in early."

"Oh, we decided to stay open all day and all night, that way that people can just come when they're hungry..." said the host with a smile.

"Good, I'm tired of waiting till morning for a snack." said Yang.

"You could always make yourself something while I'm asleep." said Harry.

"I can't cook, and you won't wake up to make me something." said Yang.

Harry and Lionus walked towards the center table, there were other diners eating already. There was a trio of centaurs standing around a table of fresh vegetables, and a troupe of black robed men talking over a plate of crab legs who waved over to Chief and the young boy.

"Did you boys have fun today?" said Lionus calling over to them.

"Yes sir. We managed to get the put the kidnappers on ice...literally..." said one of the younger eaters.

"Don't tell me..." said Harry.

"We froze him like a popsicle." said the leader of the band as he blew air onto his hand. A small pile of snow came out.

"What about you, Star Captain?" said another cloaked figure.

"There was nothing left of our prey." said Yang wickedly. "Not even enough to bury."

The men stared.

"He wasn't in a good mood today." said Harry with a smile.

"Stupid normal officials can't find that place...it stuck out like a broken thumb!" said Yang.

"Anyway...enjoy your meal." said Harry waving to them. "_Yang...we're in a restaurant now...please watch what you say_."

"I don't care." said Yang with a smug tone.

They took their seats around the table and a waiter came up, a thick pad of paper in hand with a pencil, but no menus.

"What can I get you brave gentlemen today?" said the waiter with a smile.

"Man, he really wants tips doesn't he?" muttered Yang.

"Knock it off." muttered Harry.

"I'll have spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread and a vintage bottle of Chardonnay." said Lionus.

"Yes sir...any particular year and providence?" said the waiter writing it down on the paper.

"Surprise me." said Lionus with a smile.

"Thank you sir." said the waiter with a smile. "And you, Star Captain Yin-Yang?"

"Yin will have two steaks, rare, and some chips. I'll have lobster, a light salad and we'll have a pitcher of Coca-Cola and a pot of lemon tea." said Harry.

"Yes sir! We'll have that made ready at once." said the waiter with a smile.

"Now...you were saying before we got here?" said Harry with a smile as he rested his chin on his hand.

"That's right, I got something in the Magical Post for you." said Lionus.

Harry sighed. "I hate that world."

"I don't blame you, that world completely screwed you over in several different ways. But nevertheless, you got something."

"Somehow...I know what it is." said Harry. He took the envelope in Lionus' hand and looked at the Hogwarts insignia.

"Your Hogwarts letter..." said Lionus. His face showing a slight hint of pride.

"I don't want to go." said Harry.

"I don't either." said Yang.

"You don't have a choice, they'll keep pestering us with letters till you agree to go to school, or at least talk to a representative to explain why." said Lionus.

"Really, they'd come to me to change my mind?" said Harry with a smirk.

"You _are _the Boy Who Lived. Any school would love to have you." said Lionus. "Though, they don't know that you're a Ranger...I think they'd either try and pull you out of here for '_your own protection_' or they'd wet themselves with how much more powerful you are compared to them."

"That'd be fun." snickered Yang.

"So...am I to assume that you are ordering us to go Hogwarts?" said Harry looking up at Lionus.

"Nothing escapes you." said Lionus. "Yes...I would like you to go...I want a complete evaluation of the teachers and how the school is run."

"I'm not in the education department." said Harry.

"And I hate school." said Yang

"No...but you'll see first hand how teachers normally teach their classes, no one will show off for you, well, to start with perhaps." said Lionus. "Besides, you may not officially be in the Education department, you both _are _one of the Drill Instructors for when we get new recruits. You'll have a better understanding than you think."

"How am I and Yang supposed to blend in? If Yang talks to loudly, the teachers will surely hear...the students most likely won't...but the teachers..." said Harry.

"You'll have something to go with you, that'll make it easier for you two to communicate with each other, but no one else will hear you." said Lionus. "We're working on that right now."

"And this scar...they'll ask..." said Harry tracing the scar that cut down his eye and neck.

"We'll have an accident in front of witnesses...perhaps when they come to take you to Diagon Alley." said Lionus.

"Who's taking us?" said Harry sighing in defeat.

"As of right now, a half-giant, the groundskeeper at Hogwarts, Hagrid." said Lionus taking out a picture and folder of a large man with a wild man of brown hair and beard to match.

"He looks like a giant bear." said Yang.

"He's a nice man, and he's very reliable...possibly one of the best creature handlers in the world." said Lionus.

"He looks a little terrifying." said Harry with a smile. "Hard to believe that he's nice."

"He's proof positive that appearances can be deceiving." said Lionus. "We also told the appropriate people that you were put into multiple foster homes...since your relatives were arrested for child abuse."

"Well, than you didn't lie." said Harry. "Except, my foster parent is now _you..._"

"On paper only, you can more than take care of yourself." said Lionus.

"Damn straight, geezer." said Yang.

"Though, we switched it to adoption, don't want anyone sniffing around where they don't need to be.." said Lionus. "A widower, his adopted son, little house in the country..."

"So...make it sound Norman Rockwell-ish?" said Harry with a smile.

"Whatever you want...just...don't be too frank about the life you did have...don't give the kids nightmares about your uncle and aunt." said Lionus.

"Does Dumbledore know that I'm not there anymore?" said Harry.

"He's going to find out, especially if they try to go to Privet Drive to fetch you." said Lionus. "They should be arriving there right about now."

Harry stared at the man as their food was placed before them.

"So...what do we do now, idiot?" snapped Yang.

"I've got the house all set up...tomorrow morning, they'll follow a homing owl, I'll just bet that Dumbledore and Hagrid both come to tell you...and to ask why you aren't at Privet Drive." said Lionus. "We'll leave right after dinner."

"I have to wait for Longsword's report." said Harry.

"Well, your entire battalion is here." said Lionus with a smile over Harry's shoulder.

"Joy...my steak is going to get cold." said Yang.

"Let's split then, I'm the one that handles the paperwork." said Harry.

"What? Wait! It takes too much out of you!" said Yang loudly.

Lionus looked at the young man sitting before him. He and Yang had just gone silent, they would normally go likes this when they wanted to be completely private, what were they talking about? Suddenly, Yin's body began to phase in and out, and before his eyes, two Yin's sat before him. One had black hair, fair skin with green eyes, the other had white hair, dark skin, white eyes with green behind them. The lighter Yin was gasping loudly, and his entire body was shaking.

"Hey! Why did you do that?" came Yang's voice from the white-haired figure.

"J-Just eat..." said Harry. "Pu-Pull up a seat guys..."

Longsword and Lionus reached over and examined him closely.

"Quit fussing..." said Harry thickly. "You've got a few moments to give me your report while Yang eats...don't make this a wasted endeavor."

"Y-Yes sir." said Longsword standing up suddenly, he and the rest of them took chairs around the table. Yang stared at the back of Harry's head, but began to eat his steak with his hands.

"That's what these are for." said Harry nudging the silverware to the diner, his voice getting stronger.

"I prefer this way." said Yang.

"You're the only one." said Harry taking a deep breath. "Alright, talk to me."

"Well, sir, after your attack on the fort...there were no criminals left alive." said Longsword.

"Tha- goesh widdow shayin." said Yang with his mouth full of steak.

"We could have went without _you_ saying that." said Harry weakly. "How many people were down below?"

"Two thousand and nineteen, Star Captain. There were three thousand there originally, but there were eighty-one of them killed." said Cosmo.

"What happened?" asked Lionus.

"Those were the medical slaves...it seems that they were testing toxins, they were dead before we arrived." said Force.

Harry looked down at his lobster, his face unreadable. "I want you to find where each person came from, and take them home."

The Rangers stared.

"There were two thousand people!" said Ctenizidae.

"This was your first mission into the devilish nature of humanity. You haven't see the Day yet...this will be a good learning experience for you." said Harry. "To ease you into it."

Lionus looked at the young man.

"But...they're still all in intensive care, both physical and mental...getting their information and getting them home could take...almost a whole year!" said the skin wearing Ranger.

"Exactly, Huntsman, I'm going to be gone for that length of time it seems. If you manage to get done with that before I come back, I want you to train. When I _do _get back, I'm going to go on missions like crazy, so be prepared to be worn ragged." said Harry.

"Where you're going, must be pretty dangerous...for you to be gone for a whole year." said Ctenizidae.

"I'll only be here for the summer." said Harry. "For the next seven years..." he held up his letter.

"You..." said Force.

"That's right..." said Harry with a smirk. "The Boy-Who-Lived, Star Captain, Yin-Yang...is going to school..."

"He's going to be bored out of his mind." said Force.

"We're dead when he comes back." said Cosmo.

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**Thanks for reading, please review!**

**Question of the Chapter: Here's a dark question, If you were eating at The Last Meal Diner, what would you want to be your last meal?**


	3. Chapter 3 Blending In

**I had one person who did an anonymous review and asked a question. I can't respond to them, and I don't know if they are reading this now. If you have a question...you need to sign in...I would rather not put up answers to questions from the reviews on the top of the new chapters. The readers don't know what's going on and frankly when I read that, I just get confused. **

**So, if you have a question, please sign in and ask away, or even PM me. I'll answer your question to the best of my ability and if it's not going to reveal any spoilers. **

**I thought it would be a bit more...enjoyable if I were to explain a few of the little tidbits of the Rangers. So if the occasion arises, and there is two of them in here at least, the insights will be in **_**italicized **_**font.**

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In a two story house in the country, Harry and Lionus were sitting in the parlor, sipping a warm cup of tea silently. It seemed like the perfect picture of domestic life, as if it were a father and son sitting down for afternoon tea. However, it only appeared like that on the surface, between the two of them, they were perfecting their social necessities, there were little to no need for social skills when they were not needed in the capture of heinous criminals, but they did have training in a multiple of social habits of different countries.

Even the house was not what it seemed on the surface. This house, charming and picturesque as it was, was no more than a base for Rangers on the move. There were mini-bases all over the world, houses that were secluded, or even apartments in the bigger cities for Rangers to make use of when in the field and unable to come back to their respective Headquarters due to fatigue, wounds or even hunger. Each base was within call of an undercover Ranger doctor/healer, and a House-elf would stay in order to keep the house ready for any Ranger who would pass by.

This house, normally open to any Ranger passing through, was reserved for the two of them, a house-elf in the service of the Rangers, happily bringing them a plate of biscuits. Harry smiled at the house-elf and took a cookie from the tray.

"What demeanor did you receive from 'New Personal'?" asked Lionus.

_New Personal: a division of the Rangers that was composed of psychiatrists, doctors, actors, writers, and computer hackers. When a Ranger or even a victim needed to go undercover or a new identity to the nth degree, the New Personal department would create a new persona for the subject. _

_A new personality, likes, dislikes, tastes, history, education, and even dental, fingerprint, and DNA records would be recreated. A person could stand in front of their own mother, and they would never be recognized, unless they revealed their identity, and even, it wasn't often they would be believed. _

_Plastic surgery would be done, and even more sensitive surgery would take place, on and in the body, the brain, and even on the tongue, to alter taste preferences. Psychiatrists, actors and writers would give them brand new personalities and a plausible history to play with and send them through a crash course in a different profession than the one they had before. Computer Hackers would keep the old identity alive, supposedly secured in a safe house, while creating ID's , credit historys, bank records, criminal records, school records and military records for the hider. It was almost impossible for someone to find out who you really were, unless you told them. _

Harry smirked. "I was assigned, withdrawn, lost, troubled, slight angst-ridden in my later teens, very talented, kind to friends and respective of elders."

Lionus laughed, "Sounds like they had fun with your personality profile. I think I recognize Dr. O'Hara sneaking in the respective of elders. Seems they wanted you to be the perfect, tragic child."

"Wonderful." said Harry with a smile as he flicked his earring, a large ruby stud.

"Yang's not too crazy about the restraint hold put on him, is he? I can't hear a peep out of him." said Lionus.

"You're lucky, he's saying some very strong obscenities." said Harry.

Lionus laughed. "He must be having the time of his life, I can't argue with him."

Suddenly, a faint ripple seemed to travel through the air, causing the two of them to flinch.

"Seems they're almost here." said Lionus. "Alright, let's run through the gist of the story...your uncle, and aunt were arrested for child abuse..."

"Which is true." said Harry with a frown.

"Yeah, too bad they're in normal prison as opposed to Hell's Garden...ah well...we can't have what we want all the time." said Lionus with a sigh. "You've jumped from foster home to foster home, until finally...I adopted you." he finished with a smile.

"And I'm still nervous around you..." said Harry standing up. "Hopefully, they don't try and play therapist, I don't want to get emotionally involved with anyone. I just want to evaluate the teachings and go about my business."

Lionus smiled knowingly. "Sure, that'll happen. Don't forget to put that makeup on your longer scar. We've got everything in place to introduce that little affliction."

"Come on, a scar from my first tangle with a freshly bitten werewolf...you mean they don't want to hear that story?" said Harry with a laugh.

"I think I can hear Yang sneaking through your demeanor. Go change into character, a child wearing a silk white and black shirt? Not quite elevenish." said Lionus with a smile.

As Harry walked up the stairs, the length of his hair caught his Chief's attention.

"Maybe we should have taken you to the Ranger barber." said Lionus. "You don't see many kids with hair that go down to the small of their back. Not boys anyway."

"I worked hard to get it to this length, I'm not losing it now." said Harry with a smirk. "Besides, Dr. Hina said I looked more tragic with long hair."

"She's got to stop reading those Man gah books..." said Lionus.

"Manga." corrected Harry.

"Whatever they are, I've read a few of them that she collects. It's no wonder she squeals when a few of the Rangers come to her for treatment. It's like they fulfill her daydreams."

Lionus stood up as Harry left the room and cleared the table of the tea set. "You'd best hide, Flopsy...I'll call you when we head back."

"Master Lionus should rest here for a while. Flopsy can take better care of Master in healthy environment." said Flopsy shaking her finger scoldingly.

Lionus laughed. "We'll have to see, Flopsy. I can't promise anything...but we do plan to come here so you can nursemaid me to death this year, while I play the role of overprotective father."

Flopsy smiled and hurried to her little hiding place in the house. Lionus placed the dishes in the sink and just as he cleared away the counter, the doorbell rang, signaling the arrival of the visitors.

"And thus so the curtain rises, and the two actors must step out on the stage, thus beginning the play." said Lionus dramatically. "Be right there! God, thought I'd have a nice day off today!" he said loudly. He walked to the door and opened it wide.

Standing outside, there were two bearded men, one was staggeringly tall with bushy brown hair that seemed untameable and the other was elderly with snow white hair and beard that went down past his chest. The larger man was wearing a large moleskin coat that seemed to be covered in almost camouflaged pockets, and the old man was wearing deep purple robes.

"Hello, sorry to disturb you on such a fine day. My name is Albus Dumbledore and this is Rubeus Hagrid. Does a young Harry Potter live here?"

Lionus raised his eyebrow. "What the...what do you want with Harry? You're not the social worker..."

"No...but we are from a private school, may we come in?" said Dumbledore with a smile.

"No." said Lionus and he closed the door.

He waited a moment, stifling his smile and laughter, and then the doorbell rang again. He waited a moment once again and opened the door.

"Don't you go shuttin' the door on the Headmaster!" growled the giant angrily.

"It's fine Hagrid." said Dumbledore gently.

"Get off my porch...before I call the coppers." said Lionus shortly. _I'm going to have so much fun!_

"We just want to talk to you and Harry." said Dumbledore holding up his hands in peace. "It's about that letter that should have arrived yesterday."

"Letter? Which one? Harry got a lot of acceptance letters to a bunch of different private schools." said Lionus with a suspicious look.

"He...he has?" said Hagrid.

"You're a member of a private school and you don't think that others would be after him? I mean...he is on Great Britain's Top Student list...number four and he said he wasn't even trying hard..." said Lionus with a strong hint of pride. _Which isn't a lie, either. Damned kid was so bored he took the test and didn't even give it an actual try...the Department for Education thought it was one of theirs and posted it. God that kid scares me sometimes._

_Top Student List: A method of checking the standard intelligence of the current youth by the Ranger Department for Education. With the test, they examine where the short-comings of the curriculum are and see where they need to improve. Each country compiles a list of the top hundred students that got top marks and the list sent to the media (under a different organization name) and schools make a dash to collect the brightest of them. Thus even furthering the advancement of the brightest, hopefully, improving the life for all in the future. _

Dumbledore and Hagrid stared.

"Now, I _know _you're not with any school..." said Lionus, making to close the door again.

"You received our letter, by owl." said Dumbledore.

The door stopped.

"What the hell are you talking about, owls don't deliver mail? I didn't get a letter from any owl..." said Lionus.

"Perhaps Harry did." said Dumbledore helpfully. "Perhaps he can clear this up for us."

"If this is a trick...I'm going to press charges." said Lionus. "Harry! There's someone here to talk to you!"

They heard something move around up the stairs, and then the sound of a door opening. On the landing appeared a young boy, with long black hair pulled back into a braid, wearing faded jeans, a loose fitting t-shirt and round framed glasses. He looked nervous and walked with small confidence.

"Y-Yes, Mr. Pepper?" said Harry meekly.

Lionus looked at Dumbledore, slight embarrassment on his face. "Yeah, we're still on Mr. Pepper. May take a few months for him to call me dad."

"Why would yeh?" asked Hagrid up to Harry.

"I adopted him." said Lionus.

Dumbledore looked at the man. "I...I wondered why he wasn't at his aunts house...there was no one home at all...the house was deserted"

"She and her bastard of a husband abused him. Come here Harry...they just want to talk..." said Lionus. He inwardly smirked at how tentatively Harry walked down the stairs. _You're too cute, kid...And the amazing thing is...you could totally smash them up if you really wanted to._

"He...they hurt him?" said Hagrid, his voice dark.

"Nearly beat him half to death, whoever chose to put him in their care is a complete idiot." said Lionus. He looked at Harry, who was lightly gripping the back of his shirt. His eyes downcast. _Yang must be laughing his head off...either that or shouting at Yin for being this weak in front of others. He's a good actor..._"It's alright, Harry...let's go into the living room, they can say what they want and get out."

"We really didn't' mean to disturb you, this much." said Dumbledore quickly, yet softly, gazing at the young boy in front of him pity, guilt and grief etched on his face.

"He just got done with a bunch of hearings and what not, the last thing he wants to do is deal with even more people he doesn't know." said Lionus.

Dumbledore and Hagrid both looked at the child that hid behind his surrogate parent. He only came out when they sat down on the recliner. Harry sat between the armrest and Lionus in the seat., keeping close and away from the strangers.

Dumbledore learned forward in his seat. "Tell me Harry...did you receive a letter...that arrived a little strangely?"

"You mean...from that owl...?" said Harry.

"Yes. That's the one..." said Dumbledore.

"You mean...it isn't a joke?" said Harry.

"No...lad...it isn't a joke." said Dumbledore with a smile.

"You really got a letter from an owl?" said Lionus in faked surprise.

"It...it can't be real though...I mean a _Magical school?" _said Harry slowly.

Yang watched the proceedings overhead, he was like a specter that followed Harry wherever he went. They shared the same body so he could observe anything that may not be noticeable to his partner while his attention was held in another direction.

Yang thought that this was pathetic, having to watch his partner act all wimpy frightened and surprised about a world they knew so much about. The jerk was a freaking genius, and could whup his ass in the Spectral Sparring Room.

_Spectral Sparring Room: A room that resides in each Ranger Headquarters around the world. It's a room that any Ranger with either active dual personalities, or houses multiple souls in their bodies, may improve their skills and their ability to work together. The Head Healer of each base presides over the training session, just in case either side needs to be sedated to prevent complete separation of souls, which would result the death of main body, and the two souls._

Though, they were two totally different sorts of people, that was why they were called Yin and Yang. Same body, but two different souls inside. Yang was the self proclaimed male part, he was proud and strong and he wasn't afraid to boast about it. Yin, or Harry...he was the...feminine part...he was dainty and graceful, and was generally soft spoken, but he could beat the snot out of anyone if the occasion were force to arise.

Yang was eager to get into fights, Yin...was willing to give peace all the time it needed, and save the battles for another day. For the most part, Yang disagreed with everything that Yin did, but...he was in awe of the apparently weaker fighter...and he was grateful to everyday he could learn something new from the dignified young man.

This magical world...and with these two so far...was going to be annoying as hell...

"I'm bored." said Yang as Dumbledore and Lionus were talking.

_Don't worry, they're going to take us to Diagon Alley in a matter of moments. They're trying to convince Lionus to letting them take me...well...us...for school shopping. _thought Harry.

"Seriously, what was up with the Pepper surname?" said Yang with a chuckle.

_It's his favorite soda._

"Go figure the old fart would come up with a stupid name for a stupid reason." said Yang.

"_Well, he couldn't go with his real last name, Dumbledore would recognize it." _

"It's still stupid." said Yang.

"If anything happens to him..." said Lionus.

"He's in safe hands." said Dumbledore.

_Not if all goes according to plan..._thought Harry, Yang and Lionus.

Harry looked to Lionus. "Mr..Pepper?"

"Don't you worry, I think you'll be fine, just listen to them and you'll be home in no time." said Lionus patting Harry's head. "If I hear you didn't get into trouble, I'll have some treacle tart waiting for you back here."

"That's playing dirty, I hate that stuff." said Yang.

_Stuff it, I love that stuff. _thought Harry.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Please review!**

**Question of the chapter...If you've ever played a video game, what one is your favorite?**


	4. Chapter 4 Diagon Disaster

**Okay! Here we go, I didn't quite realize how long this chapter was going to get. Hope you enjoy this little unexpected treat. **

**I don't own Harry Potter.**

* * *

Harry, Dumbledore, and Hagrid (with Yang hovering overhead) traveled to Diagon Alley. Dumbledore had extended his hand to take Harry's hand in his own, but Harry flinched away from him and Hagrid, keeping his eyes down at all times.

"That's alright, Harry." said Dumbledore with a kind smile. "Just stay within our sights."

Dumbledore felt guilty, he had dealt the boy a terrible, horrible life and wanted to make it up to the lad. He knew he couldn't undo the damage done with simple affections, he would have to look after the boy when he came to school. Though...he knew that could spell trouble with Severus...he dreaded those potential arguments, but...if he could have the child open up a bit...smile...bask in the light of life...then he would endure anything that came his way.

Hagrid wanted to throttle Dursley and curse him into oblivion, but he knew that was only a pipe dream. Not only would Dumbledore certainly stop him...but he didn't want Harry to undergo anymore trouble. The little boy was so sweet and gentle that Hagrid swore that he'd never suffer again. He'd protect Harry with everything he had.

Yang however couldn't stop howling with laughter. He could see the two of them looking at Harry with adoration in their eyes, he didn't figure they would be this easy to play...guess everyone fell over themselves when it came to tragic youths with big eyes. But what made it so humorous was that this Headmaster was a powerful wizard, and they were running the whole show...and he didn't even know it.

"Here we are Harry...the Leaky Cauldron." said Dumbledore holding the door open for the boy to enter.

"Uh...you first." said Harry with a weak smile.

"Alright." said Dumbledore with a smile.

He led Harry into the pub and past the people gossiping and talking amongst themselves about the latest discoveries.

"Oh! Hello Headmaster! What can I get for you today? Hagrid! Your usual?"came a call over the chatter. Soon the room went quiet, they looked at Hagrid and Dumbledore...mostly Dumbledore. It wasn't often that the man could be seen outside of school grounds lately.

"Afraid not right now, we have some shopping to do today..." said Dumbledore.

"We're helping young Harry here get his school things." said Hagrid patting Harry's shoulder gently. The people turned and looked at Harry and caught the scar on his head before he could hide behind Hagrid. They stood up suddenly and came over to the boy. But Harry...with agility that surprised the giant man, began to scramble up Hagrid's moleskin coat and held on.

The people looked at the little figure hiding behind Hagrid's head.

"Skittish, ain't he?" said one of the wizards.

"Poor thing..." said the witches looking at the little boy with misty eyes.

"He...he's a bit nervous around new folks..." said Hagrid.

"Hagrid..." said Dumbledore quickly. Harry was obviously upset, telling everyone in the pub about the life he had led would make him feel worse...best keep that information between themselves for the time being.

"Well, no worry...you'll do fine at Hogwarts, lad." said one of the wizards supportively.

Harry grasped the back of Hagrid's head carefully, not wishing to pull hair right out of the man's scalp. He was having quite a bit of fun playacting and pretending to be this way as opposed to the stronger yet peaceful young wizard.

The two wizards that were escorting him to Diagon Alley were the two of the three that dropped him off at the Dursleys, forcing him to endure the life that he had had to live. The both of them had to see what happened when one would play God with a child's life, and leaving them to fate after wards.

That, unfortunately, means that the two men would have to be put through a living hell when it came to him. He felt bad for doing it to the larger man, he was just following orders, but Dumbledore was the man who made the decision to leave him. Dumbledore would have to suffer the consequences...for as long as Harry's front could hold out. He would have to keep up the charade for seven years...and he had never kept it up that long...seven months was one thing...years was another story in a whole other library.

Dumbledore led the two of them outside into the small enclosed area behind the pub. They waved to the wizards and witches that were sending the shy pre-teen words of encouragement and support and carefully removed Harry from Hagrid's neck.

Dumbledore opened the passageway to Diagon Alley, smiling down at the boy who opened his mouth wide in awe.

"This Harry, is Diagon Alley..." said Dumbledore with a smile as he gestured to the cobblestone street.

"This..this is where wizards and witches come and shop?" asked Harry meekly.

"That's right, now, how about we go and examine the shops before we get down to shopping?" said Dumbledore with a smile.

"I...will they take Mr. Pepper's money?" said Harry as he saw someone hand over a few gold coins.

"Well, we will give Mr. Pepper's money back to him, you're able to pay for the things yourself." said Dumbledore.

He smiled at the shocked look on the boy's face.

"H-How?" asked Harry, gripping Dumbledore's hand tightly as a wizard in frayed clothing came too close to him.

"Well, your parents left you quite a large sum in their will, enough to take care of you for the rest of your life." said Dumbledore, giving the boy's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Does Mr. Pepper know about it?" asked Harry softly.

"He will be notified when we return, we'll need to have him sign a few papers so he will have access to it if he wishes." said Dumbledore. "I suppose we should go to the bank first and get you some money, but first...let's get you some ice cream."

"W-Where?" asked Harry gripping Dumbledore's hand even tighter.

"Fortescue's down this way." said Dumbledore leading Harry and Hagrid down to the Ice Cream Parlor, they arrived and allowed Harry to pick out his own frozen treat.

"Get the chocolate coconut cream one." said Yang.

_I'm leaning towards the peanut butter and chocolate. _thought Harry.

"Well, Harry?" said Hagrid taking his chocolate, raspberry and chopped nuts ice cream cone.

Harry and Yang looked at what Hagrid had.

"Can I have what you're having?" asked Harry. Yang nodded quickly.

"Hang on! What are we doing getting all excited over ice cream?" said Yang loudly. "God...this is starting to backfire."

_Hey, I want some ice cream...call it a day off... _thought Harry_._

Dumbledore smiled. "We'll have another one of these." said Dumbledore pointing to his own similar cone.

Hagrid and he smiled as Harry began to lick the treat quickly, a smile on his face.

"Well, we really look like a little kid now..." said Yang licking his lips, faintly tasting the treat that was in his partner's mouth.* "We'll have to get this again." He looked up onto the rooftops, a flicker of light flashed from above. "There's the signal, Colt's in position...are we sure he can do this?"

_He's the best sharpshooter the Rangers have. He can handle this._

"I know that he's got the skills, but this is the magical world, he'll have to get through this magical bubble that Dumbledore threw around us. He'll have to use a wand as opposed to what he's used to using...Why couldn't...?" said Yang.

"_She was busy, he'll be fine." said Harry._

"Hey, this is _our_ body, and..." said Yang.

"_We'll be fine." repeated Harry. "His orders are to just to use enough force to get through the shield, and deepen the scar about a fraction of a millimeter. He's studied what the scar looked like and he's confident he can get the job done." _

"We'll see..." said Yang crossing his arms. "When are we going to go through with this?"

"_Once the shopping is all done, we'll run ahead of them, that'll be the signal." said Harry._

Dumbledore's heart felt as if it were gripped in a tight fist. The boy was no longer quivering around them, but when someone else came too close into his personal bubble, he would retreat to either behind himself, or crawl rather squirrel-like onto Hagrid's shoulders. He could only imagine what horrors this poor boy had been subjected too, and what anguish he had been put through by bouncing from one foster home to the next and then, enduring the hearings to have his uncle properly punished.

He was such a dear little thing, his messy black locks, his bright, shining green eyes and the smile that would burst forth when something would amuse the sweet boy. To think...he brought about the boy immense pain and suffering.

* * *

After the visit to the family bank vault, they had decided to stop at the bookstore first, they watched Harry wander around and open random books with amusement in their eyes. He would flit from aisle to aisle, opening books, dodging people that were looking for a book in particular, climbing the shelves to thumb through the books on the upper shelves.

What they had no idea was, that Harry was quickly reading the books he would pick up, and they were not random, they were books that he had not read before and with the abilities he had acquired during his tenure with the Rangers, it was far from natural. His eyes were...the term would perhaps be magically enhanced, nothing he read would escape him, and he could easily recall it, no matter how fast he flipped through the papers. However, it came at a price, he wouldn't be able to properly recall what it was for a week at least. The faster he flipped through the pages, the longer it took for his brain to process it.

If he were to actually sit and read the book as if he were just normally reading, he would remember it instantly, but when time is the essence and appearances mean everything, he couldn't take his sweet time about anything.

Finally Hagrid caught Harry around the middle and hoisted him up into the air.

"Gotcha yeh little menace." said Hagrid with a twinkling smile.

Harry laughed as tossed him lightly in the air.

"Really?" said Yang rolling his eyes. "This is getting too sappy for me."

"_Hey, shut up..." said Harry._

"Did you see any book that seemed to catch your fleeting fancy?" said Dumbledore with a smile. He smiled a bit brighter when he saw Harry's eyes flash back to where he just was. "Why don't you go and get a few books for you to read for fun, call it a birthday present."

He watched as Harry went and grabbed a book, a book that if Severus had seen him grab, he would have fallen over in a dead faint.

**_The Pulchritudinous Art of Potions_**

**_By Severus Snape._**

"What made you decide on that book, dear boy?" asked Dumbledore.

Well, potions are like chemistry, right? I love chemistry." said Harry.

"And the real reason?" said Yang.

"_The potions are amazing, and I know the history this man has with my father. It wouldn't hurt to show him that I want to be a decent potioneer." said Yin._

"So are you going to be better than average in that class?" asked Yang.

"_...why not...I'm supposed to be a talented young man...might as well go the whole nine-yards...so they say." said Yin. _

"I think the Potions teacher would be...stunned that a first year would attempt to read that particular book." said Dumbledore.

"Why...are the potions inside it that hard?" asked Harry, looking up at Dumbledore with his big green eyes.

"Let me see..." said Dumbledore taking the book out of Harry's hands. He flipped through the pages and had a pitying smile. "It's quite...well...don't be discouraged."

Harry smiled and held the book to his chest.

"Is there any other book you would like?" asked Dumbledore with a smile.

"Oh, no sir, this'll be fine." said Harry with a smile.

"Oh, I think we can do a mite better than that." said Dumbledore. He walked around the bookstore, while Hagrid kept Harry sitting on his shoulder, and brought back a small tower of books.

"These should be enjoyable...and perhaps even a bit informational." said Dumbledore with a smile. "We'll take these plus the first year assortment." added Dumbledore to the clerk.

As the man wrapped the books in protective paper, Harry turned to look at the old man standing beside him. "You...didn't..."

"Of course I did, now, lets go and get your robes...get the more tedious items done." said Dumbledore with a continuous smile.

"Why is it tedious?" asked Harry.

"The cloaks are in a way tailored, you'll have to stand in place for a short while." said Dumbledore.

"Ah, but don' worry, yeh such a small thing, it won' take long." said Hagrid with a smile.

"Wonderful, tailored made clothes on top of all this..." said Yang. "Aren't we going to be all prissy..."

* * *

After being pricked and pinned by Madam Malkin herself as she made him a set of school robes, they left just as a blonde man with his nose in the air, and a similarly looking boy entered.

"Ah, Headmaster, strange to see you amongst the...less scholarly." said the man with a sneer.

Hagrid growled, stood in front of Harry and picked him up, shielding Harry with his body from the gaze of the oily speaking man.

"What's wrong?" asked Harry in a whisper.

"Don' get too close to him." said Hagrid. "He can be dangerous..."

"I'm often out of the school, I'm just escorting a student to gather his school supplies." said Dumbledore with a small smile.

"And this student would be?" said Lucius.

"Why do yeh wanna know?" asked Hagrid gruffly.

"I need to alert the governors, that...this student's exams and accomplishments should be taken with a grain of salt, if the Headmaster is already showing favoritism." said Lucius smoothly.

"What a bastard." said Yang with a frown.

"_Lucius Malfoy, higher ranked Death Eater, one of the twelve wealthiest wizards in the country, has a wife, son and a spacious mansion. We can't do much, the evidence is there to convict him...they just don't look." said Yin. _

"Can't we smack him at the very least, that would make me happy." said Yang with a growl.

"_Me too, but we have to stay undercover." _

"This cutesy crap is getting on my nerves...let's snap and beat the daylights out of someone." said Yang.

"_No."_

"You're no fun at all, you know that right?" said Yang.

"I'm flattered that you think that I have such a touching heart to be swayed by a child. But I think you'll remember receiving a notice that I would be showing a student to Diagon Alley." said Dumbledore with a smile.

Lucius stared. "I received no such notice."

"Of course you did, in fact, I told you all in the last meeting." said Dumbledore, continuing to smile. "And that meeting was last night."

Lucius snarled.

"He doesn't like Headmaster Dumbledore does he?" asked Harry to Hagrid.

"I'd be shocked teh death if he did..." said Hagrid with a grim smile.

"I'd love to chat, but we need to finish up our shopping, and I'll wager your son would like to get this over with and go see that new broomstick that had just come out." said Dumbledore looking kindly down at the young boy in front of him.

"Broomstick?" asked Harry.

"We'll go see it once we're done with yer shoppin'." said Hagrid.

"Really?" said Harry excitedly.

"Finally, something fun to do." said Yang.

"_I can't wait, we can't fly like normal, this should hopefully be just as good." said Yin. _

"I swear, my wing is starting to cramp up." said Yang.

"_So is mine, I'm going to need to check them when we get home." said Yin._

"You and your feathers, I at least don't have to do much maintenance, I just have to make sure there is no holes in the membranes." said Yang.

"_Batboy." said Yin._

"Featherduster." said Yang.

* * *

Their next stop was Ollivanders, Dumbledore smiled down at Harry as he opened the door for their party to enter.

"Here we are Harry, this is where you'll find the perfect wand for you." said Dumbledore.

An old man came out from the long shelves full of thin long boxes.

"Ah, Albus, don't often see you in Diagon Alley so close before the beginning of school." said the wizened old man coming forward to shake the Headmaster's hand.

"I'm escorting a new student around Diagon Alley, Garrick." said Dumbledore with a smile. He took a hold of Harry, who was hiding behind him and brought him forward. "It's time for this young man to receive his wand."

Ollivander looked down at the boy and his eyes widened slightly, a smile began to form on his lips. "Ah, I've been wondering when I was going to get to meet you, Mr. Potter."

"This guy is creeping me the hell out." said Yang leaning away.

"_Just relax." _thought Harry.

Ollivander took Harry over to the large, ancient looking desk and placed a large assortment of wands before him.

"Now," said Ollivander, his tone becoming business like. "In accordance with the length of your family members' wands, I would recommend these to start with."

There were wands that all seemed to be over ten inches long, but each one had a series of different materials that went into it. The core's ranged between unicorn tail hair all the way even the thin wisps of hair from a troll.

"Can you imagine us having a troll hair wand?" said Yang.

"_What sort of wand do you think we'll get?" _thought Harry.

"It had better be dragon heartstring." said Yang.

"_Well, we'd better get through this little mountain of boxes_." thought Harry.

For almost a complete hour, the wand maker placed wand after wand before the boy who stood before him. He had gone through a great number of wands with the more unusual cores, but after getting absolutely no results from those, he switched it over to the three more powerful ones, Dragon heartstring, unicorn hair, and phoenix feather.

After noticing the latest wand shiver slightly, Ollivander stopped completely, he didn't move towards another box and was just looking between Harry and Dumbledore. He went over to the wand that was on display in the window, and picked it up carefully.

"Garrick?" said Dumbledore.

Ollivander didn't say anything, he walked the wand back to the youth, cradling it as if it were a priceless treasure. He placed the wand carefully in Harry's hand.

The air itself began to increase in temperature and a mysterious wind began to swirl the dust that covered a few of the boxes into the air, around Harry. Then a light that consisted of streaks of gold and red radiated from the wand.

"Albus, this wand..." said Ollivander looking over to Dumbledore.

"It..It is, isn't it?" said Dumbledore softly.

"What...what are you talking about?" asked Harry looking between the two men.

Both Harry and Yang saw the conflict in Dumbledore's eyes.

"_He's debating whether to tell us about Voldemort or not." _said Harry.

"He'd better tell us." said Yang shortly.

"It's...a special wand Harry, you should take care of it exceptionally well." said Dumbledore with a small smile.

"He's playing God again." said Yang with a groan.

"_Well can't blame him really, I wouldn't want to trouble an eleven year old with that kind of truth, not yet anyway." _thought Harry.

"Lionus told us a few months after we joined up." said Yang.

"_We gave up our childhoods for the Rangers, Dumbledore...he's trying to give us a few years of oblivious joy._" said Harry slowly.

"Why does it sound like you're defending him." said Yang.

Harry said nothing.

* * *

Hours later, Hagrid and Dumbledore walked beside Harry as they strolled through Diagon Alley, his small hand firmly gripping the men's larger hands. He had warmed up to them so much that he began swinging on their hands, as if he were a mere toddler. The men didn't mind, in fact, they rather enjoyed it.

"What the hell are you doing?" asked Yang.

"_We're done shopping, that means that it's time for the finale as Lionus would say."_ thoughtHarry_._

"Dramatic ass..." said Yang.

Harry swung on the men's hands and released his hold, landing a few feet ahead of them.

"Don't go too far..." said Dumbledore with a smile.

"Ah...with the two of us here, nuthin can happen." said Hagrid with a smile.

"_Here, he'll take us out here..._" thought Harry_._

But then something caught his eye. A flying birdcage came from the Owl Emporium, with a snowy owl flapping angrily within. Without thinking, Harry leaped back and caught the cage nimbly in his hands.

"What the...?" said Hagrid.

Then a pair of men came thrashing out, punching, kicking and throwing an assortment of things at each other.

"You sold me a bum bird!" shouted one of the cloaked wizards. Then he reached behind him, grabbed a rock and hurled it at the apparent shopkeeper. The man ducked and the rock made it's way to it's new target, Harry Potter.

Harry watched the man throw the rock towards him, he could easily dodge it, but at the speed it was flying, it would hit him...it was at the wrong angle and wasn't sharp enough to claim he got the scar from the rock. With a flick of his fingers, the world froze.

Yang looked to his left from where he hovered and there was Yin, both looking like the mirrored image of each other.

"Been a while since we've done this." said Yang.

"Yeah, we need to find a way to dodge this rock, end the fight and yet give Colt the opportunity to do what he needs to do all at the same time." said Yin.

"If we were to go all out, then it would be easy, but with us holding back, it's another story." said Yang looking around.

They were in front of the cauldron store and Harry's eyes couldn't be torn away. "You know, if that this works...then the outcome will be hilarious."

"Huh?" asked Yang.

"Just wait." said Yin with a smirk, he reached over and tilted one of the cauldrons.

The world than returned to it's normal pace, the rock was still moving towards the youth, Dumbledore's wand was just about to clear his pocket and Hagrid was moving ahead to grab Harry and move him. Harry ducked and the rock slammed into the cauldron, bounced out and ricocheted back to the thrower, smashing him in the nose.

"Arrgh!" shouted the man grabbing his nose and falling down.

"S-Sorry!" said Harry moving a little further away from both the men on the ground, Hagrid and Dumbledore.

He stopped on the brick that had a minute star scratched into it and suddenly the entire Alley fell into dramatic chaos. A spell shot through street, bouncing off several surfaces, several people began to scream at once and a dark cloaked figure blasted through crowd.

This was a diversion, the an apparently stray spell ricocheted off several different objects, rebounded off the ground and then slashed up the side of the boy's face, tracing the scar that was hidden under the makeup. Harry gave a high pitched yell and collapsed to the ground, dropping the birdcage to the ground.

"Harry!" shouted Hagrid and Dumbledore as they hurried over to the child. Harry was clutching his face and twisting his legs all over the dirty street in pain. Dumbledore lifted Harry into his arms and with one hand tried to gently pry the boy's hands from his face.

"Harry...come child...it'll be alright..." said Dumbledore trying to take Harry's hands from his face. When he pulled the child's fingers from his skin, he saw that the boy's face bore a scar that traveled from the the boy's left temple, down his eye, over his nose and down his right cheek.

Hagrid cringed when Harry screamed once again. Even Yang who was hovering overhead twitched as Harry cried.

"Don't worry lad, we'll get you fixed up in no time." said Dumbledore picking up Harry and taking him to a nearby building, where a Healer did her business for anyone passing by. Hagrid, not knowing what to do with his hands, picked up the cage with the snowy owl in it and followed the Headmaster and screaming child.

This day was not going according to plan at all.

_This day was going perfectly._

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***Alright, get your minds out of the gutters, there will be no slash in this story!**

**Thanks for reading! Please review!**

**Question of the chapter! If you could choose your wand, what would you want yours to be made of?**

**What would my ideal wand be? Cherrywood, and dragon heartstring!...(Just looked up cherry and dragon heartstring wand...) NO! LOCKHART HAS THE SAME WAND! SON OF A...**


	5. Chapter 5 Change of Heart and Plans

**Sorry I didn't have this chapter uploaded this morning or even earlier this evening. Had to work a long shift and we went out for dinner.**

**I don't own Harry Potter.**

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Dumbledore took a deep breath and accepted the shouting that the man before him was doing. Mr. Pepper was _irate_ and he had every right to be. Harry was not returned to him in the same condition as he was taken in, the healer could not heal the scar that appeared on his face...leaving the poor child scarred even more.

Even Hagrid looked down shamefully as the man screamed and yelled at the pair of them. Harry was carried off to bed, (He was ripped out of Hagrid's arms and carried upstairs to apparent safety) and when the man returned the shouting match began.

"You _swore _to me that he would be fine! You told me to _trust _you! What the hell were you doing while this happened?" yelled Lionus, playing the part of over-protective father.

"Well, Harry..." said Hagrid, trying to explain that Harry wasn't in any real danger, he was just scared.

"Don't you blame this on him!" shouted Lionus.

"He wasn't, Mr. Pepper, he wasn't..." said Dumbledore quickly. "We took Harry to the Healer in Diagon Alley, she said he was in no danger..."

"No danger? He's got a scar on his face, you call that 'NO DANGER'?" shouted Lionus. "I could understand a scrape...he could have tripped and fell, the social worker told me that he tends to play with people that handle him roughly, but this is a bloody, bleeding wound! He's got enough scars, doesn't need another one!"

"We're sorry..." said Dumbledore trying to soothe the man, he was repentant, but he didn't want to cause the boy any more distress by hearing his adopted father yell.

"Sorry doesn't mean squat!" said Lionus angrily. "He's not going, you can take all the stuff back, he's not going..."

"But...I wanna go..." came a small voice from up the stairs.

They turned and saw the young boy in question, a wrap of bandages looped over his left eye, across his nose and down to his right cheek. He looked so small and frail in his green pajamas.

"Harry...go back to bed, I'll be there in a moment." said Lionus soothingly, gesturing up to the youth.

"Please, Mr. Pepper, I want to go." said Harry in a pleading tone.

_Oh Harry. _thought Dumbledore with a faint smile.

"We'll talk about this later, go back to bed." said Lionus.

"Mr. Pepper..." said Harry softly.

"He's having a lot of fun with this." said Yang with a snicker.

"Harry, these people are dangerous..." said Lionus.

Dumbledore and Hagird looked at the man, they couldn't say anything...what could they say?

"I wanna go." said Harry as firmly as his weak voice could muster.

Lionus turned his gaze to the young boy above him, and sighed, he turned back to the two men before him. "I'll sleep on it, but be prepared to take everything back tomorrow morning. Now...get out of my house."

He waited until the two men were gone completely from the house and laughed out loud. "That was great! I wish I could have gone along with you!"

Harry said nothing and came down the stairs, he collapsed on the sofa.

"You alright?" asked Lionus taking his seat. "Did Colt go overboard?"

"I'm fine..." said Harry.

"You're not willing to mess with them anymore are you?" said Lionus with a snicker.

Harry looked over to the man and looked back at the upholstery on the sofa.

Yang hovered over him and frowned down at his counterpart. "They need to be taught a lesson."

"They were both repentant, I don't think Dumbledore and Hagrid will do something like this again." said Harry.

"You can't just turn around and say: 'Hey I was kidding, I'm not hurt and not this timid.'" said Lionus.

"I know...but it's one thing to playact with criminals, this is just an old man that's not used to his plans going all to hell and not turning out the way he planned." said Harry softly.

"This isn't just about what he did to you, he's done a lot of things that went to hell and he didn't realize it." said Lionus with a frown.

"Like what?" asked Harry.

"He didn't know how to handle his own family." said Lionus.

"Who does really?" said Harry with a similar frown. "I'm betting that if I had my parents, and if I was still this smart and this strong...I wouldn't be able to be all loving...I'm not too sure I know how to do it for real."

Lionus looked at Harry, his eyes betraying a hint of sympathy.

"I'm more than happy to stay with the Rangers my whole life, but...I'd like to have a family...to know what it's like..." said Harry softly, as he leaned over and stared at the feet that were barely touching the floor.

Yang and Lionus looked at Harry.

Lionus sighed deeply. "So...what do you want to do?"

Harry looked up at the ceiling. "To just go about my school life, let Dumbledore and Hagrid make it up to me the best they can, and not take advantage of it, if I can help it."

Lionus looked at Harry his face devoid of any emotion, and then a small smile came to his face. "Alright, I'll knock off the plans I had, just do the evaluation on the teachers, have some fun, and protect the students if the teachers can't."

"Yes sir."

"Well, at least I won't have to see anything sappy anymore." said Yang with a smirk.

"Do I get that treacle." said Harry with a smirk.

"Please say no." said Yang.

"No."

"What why?" asked Harry.

"Thank you." said Yang with a laugh.

"You got hurt, you weren't a good boy." said Lionus with a joyful laugh.

"Jerk." said Harry with a frown.

"Aww...are we throwing a temper tantrum?" said Yang with a cutsey voice.

"Shut up!" said Harry.

"We _are!" _said Yang laughing loudly.

"Ease up there, Yin, we have treacle here for you." said Lionus with a smirk.

"Damn." said Yang.

Harry took his seat on the Hogwarts Express, with Yang hovering overhead. They had the compartment to themselves and Harry stretched out on the chair. He took out his book, written by Professor Snape, and began to read.

"How's the book?" asked Yang.

"I like it, what did you think of the books when _you _flitted through them?" asked Harry.

"They're all boring as hell, I hate school." said Yang. "There's nothing interesting, until Care of Magical Creatures comes along. You think we'll be able to take on Manticores or something like that?"

"Doubtful." said Harry. "The most we're going to see until fourth or fifth year is Nifflers or Flobberworms."

"Shit." said Yang.

"I know, after all we've handled, that class is the closest thing to our jobs as can be, besides Defense Against the Dark Arts." said Harry.

"With the book they're going to teach us out of? It's going to be all talk and no action...go all out in that class too..." said Yang.

"I'm planning on doing something like that, Dumbledore got me all sorts of books and with me so interested at Flourish and Blotts, I'll be able to do it apparently naturally." said Harry.

Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door and the sliding compartment door came open. It was a tall, freckled face red head, his clothes frayed at the edges and a nervous blush came to his face.

"Uh...um...can I sit in here, there's not a lot of room everywhere else." said the boy.

"Tell him to get lost." said Yang. "I don't want to deal with anyone else today." said Yang.

"Sure, c'mon in." said Harry with a smile.

"You never listen to me." said Yang with a frown.

"I'm Ron." said the boy extending his hand to shake Harry's. "Ron Weasley.

"Harry, Harry Potter." said Harry with a kind smile.

"Cue the gasp...there we go." said Yang groaning overhead.

"_Wow_, are you really?" said Ron in amazement.

"No genius, he was lying to you." said Yang.

"_Shut up, Yang._" thought Harry.

"So...is that the...scar..." said Ron pointing to Harry's face.

"No...I just got this..." said Harry.

"Wow! What were you doing?" asked Ron excitedly.

"Bathing a cat." said Yang.

"I just got stuck in the crossfire..." said Harry.

"You mean that big happening down in Diagon Alley a few days ago? You got hurt in that? What happened? Who was doing that attack?" asked Ron quickly.

Yang and Harry stared. "Did he breathe at all during that?" asked Yang.

"_I'm not sure..._" thought Harry. "Yeah it happened in Diagon Alley, but I didn't see who did it."

"Whoa." said Ron in amazement.

"He's easily amused, isn't he?" said Yang.

"So...uh...H-Harry...what house are you hoping to be in?" asked Ron eagerly.

Yang and Harry blinked.

"Didn't think about that..." said Yang. "I'm more...Slytherin-ish."

"_And I'm more along the lines of either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw...I don't know what's going to happen at that point...Hufflepuff is even a possibility." _thought Harry.

"If we get Hufflepuff, I'm going home." said Yang. "You can hang out there all you want."

"I...don't know...what about you?" asked Harry.

"W-Well, my family is mostly in Gryffindor, had some Slytherin's...but that's on a distance part of my family tree." said Ron quickly.

"Slytherin's not all that bad...they're about the second smartest students in the school from what I hear..." said Harry.

"Yeah, but they're all...well...most are pretty nasty folk." said Ron.

"Word of experience?" asked Harry.

"The Malfoy family." snarled Ron. "They don't spare any chance to put my dad and my family down."

"I can understand the animosity than." said Harry quietly.

"The what?" asked Ron.

"Uh...the bad feelings." said Harry.

"Ah..." said Ron.

"Oh, he's going to give me a headache." said Yang.

They traveled down the rails, conversing lightly...or that's what Ron thought. What Ron didn't know was that he was being subtlety interrogated about his family and and his home. He was more than happy to divulge all the information he could...but then the conversation turned in a different direction.

"What 'bout you, Harry? What's your family like?" asked Ron.

Harry blinked and looked away. "I...I was removed from my aunt and uncle a long while ago...I got adopted by a very nice man..."

"Why were you removed?" asked Ron.

"I don't want to talk about it." said Harry softly.

"Oh...well...what's your adopted...dad like?" asked Ron.

"Mr. Pepper is really nice...he's awfully patient with me..." said Harry.

"Why would he not?" asked Ron.

"I...I'm not that...forward with people." said Harry.

"You're fine with me." said Ron.

"I'm not forward and confident around adults...I'll do the schoolwork and everything...but in a domestic or social setting...I...fall apart sometimes." said Harry.

"Well, I could help you...make it a bit easier...besides, it's not like we're going to be all that...social with the teachers anyway." said Ron.

"Yeah, you're right." said Harry with a smile.

"This play has a lot of acts...doesn't it?" said Yang.

A knock came from the door and it slid open. A middle aged woman pushing a cart peered in and smiled at the two of them. "Anything off the trolly?"

"Dad slipped me some money, he figured it being my first trip, I should get some candy to celebrate." said Ron standing up. "But the most I'll be able to get is two frogs and a pouch of Bertie Botts..."

Harry looked at the redhead and smiled. "Save your money. We'll take all you've got." said Harry taking out a handful of gold coins.

"Whoa!" said Ron staring at the coins in his new friend's hand.

"What the hell?" said Yang.

"_What the hell am I going to spend the money on, besides, this is like less than a minutes' worth of work for us." _thought Harry.

They took sweets by the armful and tipped them into the seats. Within a few moments, almost half of the candy that was purchased was reduced to stray wrappers.

"Man, that was great!" said Ron happily. "You sure you don't want to collect the cards?"

"Nah...I've already got a collection going on, I don't need another one." said Harry.

"What do you collect?" asked Ron.

Harry blushed.

"Come on, you can tell me." said Ron urging Harry to tell him.

"Tell him." sneered Yang.

"I...collect music boxes." said Harry.

"This is going to be funny." said Yang with a smirk.

Ron stared.

"Not just normal ones...oddly shaped ones." said Harry.

"Like...for example." said Ron.

"I've got one in the shape of a grand piano." said Harry quietly. "And a writers desk."

"...cool, I'd like to see those." said Ron with a smile.

Harry smiled.

"Wow, someone actually wants to see it?" said Yang. "I'm shocked."

"_Shut up." _thought Harry.

Then a knock came at the door, in came a pair of other first years, one was a sniffling round faced boy, and the other was a brown, bushy haired girl.

"I'm Hermione Granger. Have you seen a toad, a boy named Neville lost one." said the girl with a slightly snobbish tone.

"You mean the boy next to you?" asked Ron.

Indeed, there was a small round faced boy standing right at her elbow, and looking nervously about.

"P-Please...I don't know where he went." said Neville nervously.

Harry looked at the boy and mentally looked up at Yang.

"It's not in here." said Yang rolling his eyes.

"We haven't seen any toad, frog or lizard." said Ron.

Neville looked crestfallen.

"It'll turn up." said Harry kindly.

"How about you give us a hand?" said Hermione.

"There's not enough room for all of us to go and search for it." said Harry wisely. "Besides, if too many people look for it, chances of it being found is improved, but the chances of it being stepped on and killed is also increases."

The other three kids stared.

Harry looked at the floor in thought, and then, a brown object came into view.

"Don't move." said Harry carefully.

"What?" asked Hermione, who was staring at the boy in disbelief.

"Neville..." said Harry.

"What?" asked neville.

"Turn around slowly...pivot on your right foot." said Harry.

Neville did as he was told and yelled in surprise. "TREVOR!"

He scooped the toad up into the air and held him to his chest.

"Well, that was a stroke of luck." said Harry swinging his legs up into the seat.

Hermione looked at him suspiciously.

"Thank you so much!" said Neville happily.

Neville walked away and with a last calculating look Hermione followed him.

"Man, she was a little...odd...don't you think?" asked Ron.

"Guess I sort of threw her for a loop." said Harry with a smile.

"She's not the only one...you're really smart!" said Ron with a happy smile.

Harry blushed.

"You're really good at doing that." said Yang with a snicker.

"Hey...uh...if I need help...could you give me some homework help?" asked Ron with a blush.

"Sure...why not?" said Harry with a smile.

"I thought you weren't going to be emotionally attached to anyone..." said Yang.

"_Things change...he sounds like he'd help me blend in very well...and he seems nice enough." _thought Harry with a smile. _"Guess a friend to help me blend in won't hurt."_

"Pardon me while I retaste my lunch." said Yang holding his stomach.

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**Thanks for reading, please review!**


	6. Chapter 6 What Dwells in the Deep

**Sorry about the late update, my sister came for the weekend. **

**I don't own Harry Potter.**

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Harry sat in deep thought as the train neared it's destination. Ron was sitting across from him, coaxing his pet rat to eat a small bit of licorice wands and taking a bite out of the chocolate frog in his hands. There was something about that rat that wasn't sitting right. According to Ron, he had said that Scabbers was a typical garden rat that his brother, Percy had found in one of their overturned flowerpots.

"Mum wasn't too crazy about a rat in the house, but after Percy had trained him to behave within the course of four days, she let him stay. Just so long as he didn't have the run of the house, and didn't get into the food or in her dresser." said Ron when Harry inquired about his pet.

For a normal rodent, this rat was too old to still be alive. Even the most properly cared for rat wouldn't live past a few years, and this rat from what Ron explained was past his expiration date. Ron didn't praise him for having any magical powers like some of the other rats he had seen in the magical world.

"Can he do anything?" asked Harry.

"He eats, sleeps and makes a mess on the sheets on occasion...other than that...he's just a living, furry desk weight." said Ron.

"Why do you keep staring at the rat?" asked Yang.

"_Something about it doesn't look right." _thought Harry.

"Aside from the fact that it's eating sweets right in front of us when we aren't finding a starving cat or a giant mousetrap, what could it be?" said Yang.

"_It's...old..." _thought Harry.

"So is Lionus, but you keep telling me off for calling him old." said Yang with a smirk.

"_This is different, this rat shouldn't have lived as long as Ron says he has." _thought Harry.

"Maybe Weasley has the year wrong." said Yang.

"_It's possible, but I don't see it as a very great possibility, he was pretty sure about his brother having the rat for a few years." _said Harry. "Think we're getting closer to Hogwarts." said Harry out loud.

"Guess we'd better get dressed." said Ron reaching up into the overhang luggage rack and took out his school uniform.

Harry gripped his shirt...the scar on his face wasn't the only one he had, there were others, many of them, and the wounds on his back...all of them battle wounds, none of which Dr. Nicodemus could remove.

_In exchange for incredible strength, and an assortment of extra special abilities, their ability to heal themselves through the use of magic (Wizard and creature Rangers only) was dampened a certain degree. If they acquired a wound, a scar would form on their body and it would take years upon years for the scar to finally fade. However this only happened with magic involved in the attack, normal non-magic weapons would not inflict lasting wounds, they would heal quickly and would leave no trace behind. _

_Rangers could overcome even the direst of travesties, but the proof of the attack would linger. A testimony to their strength, and their mistake of exposing themselves to an attack. _

He looked over to Ron.

"Hey, Ron..." said Harry softly.

"Yeah." said Ron.

"Can you...turn your back a moment?" asked Harry.

"Huh? We're both guys..." said Ron.

"It's just..." said Harry.

"I'm your friend, I won't say anything mean..." said Ron with a smile.

Harry looked at Ron.

"God...doesn't he take a hint?" said Yang.

"Okay..." said Harry softly.

"What?" said Yang incredulously.

Harry unbuttoned his light green shirt and slid it slowly off his shoulders. What was underneath the shirt caused Ron to stare in horror.

"Merlin...Harry..." said Ron in a strangled whisper.

Harry's entire torso was riddled with scars and even a few trailed down beneath the waistline of his jeans. He had formed muscles upon his chest and abs, but despite their strong appearance, amongst all the scars, they held a tragic weakness from within. His back was sliced open even more, some gashes so deep that only a thin membrane of skin kept the bones of his spine from jutting out into the open air.

"I...I thought you said that your adopted dad was a good guy." said Ron with concern etched on his face.

"He is, this was...this was before." said Harry softly.

Ron looked at him with disbelief.

"I'm alright..." said Harry.

"Are you sure? I've got some older brothers...older than even Percy...they can wipe the floor with anyone...I can sic them on anyone you want." said Ron carefully.

"No...no..." said Harry.

"Or even my dad, he doesn't look like it, but when anyone messes with our family, he can hex them into banana slugs." said Ron. "Even my mom can be scary when she needs to be, which is all the time with Fred and George."

"No...I'm okay, the ones that hurt me can't hurt me anymore." said Harry.

"Except for the scar on your face." said Ron pointing to Harry's face.

"That was an accident." said Harry adjusting his tie carefully. "Well.." he looked out the window at the station that was pulling slowly past their window. "We're here."

"Crap! I didn't get dressed!" said Ron throwing his robes on haphazardly.

The train pulled up to the station and came to a hissing stop. As the students began to pour out of the train (Ron hopping on one foot to tie his shoes) a giant man came up, swinging a large lantern high above the heads of even the taller students.

"Alrigh' firs' years...firs' years by me..." said Hagrid's gruff voice from the noisy throng of students.

Ron and Harry made their way, through the elbows and the chattering students to get to the giant man with the waving lantern.

"There yeh be." said Hagrid smiling down at Harry. "Yeh alrigh' there?"

"I'm fine Hagrid." said Harry with a small smile. "Uh...this is Ron."

Ron came running up, tying his tie haphazardly.

"Another Weasley, eh? When will I be rid of you lot?" said Hagrid, but he had a twinkling in his eyes.

Ron blushed.

"Alrigh' you lot, three to a boat, no crowdin' there's more than enough boats to go 'round." said Hagrid loudly over the crowd.

Harry and Ron followed Hagrid closely, Ron nudged Harry's side. Though he did it reasonably soft, due to the scars he saw. "When did you meet Hagrid? My brothers talk about him all the time."

"He came and took me to Diagon Alley, him and Dumbledore." said Harry.

"Oh, yeah...wicked." said Ron with a smile, but then the smile faltered. "Not even they could save you from getting that scar?"

"They didn't get me killed, I figure they did enough." said Harry.

They clambered into a boat and waited for everyone else to take a boat as well. The girl with bushy brown hair and the boy from earlier came to sit in the same boat.

"Really?" said Ron frowning at the girl as she sat behind him.

"He said three to a boat." said Hermione with a cold tone.

"You make four." said Ron.

"It's alright Ron." said Harry.

"I'm with Ron, let them get their own damn boat." said Yang with a frown towards the girl.

"_It's fine Yang." _said Harry.

"Alrigh', we all in?" said Hagrid turning around in his own giant boat. "FORWARD!"

The small boats followed Hagri'ds lead as they skimmed through the lake's black water. They all peered around, occasionally looking back and watching the carriages go up another path.

"That's a lot of thestrals they have here." said Yang.

"_Biggest, brightest herd from what Bioman says." said Harry. "Hagrid trained them himself." _

"Yeah, but to have them around a bunch of kids." said Yang. "Creepy as freakin' hell."

"_The kids can't see them, they only see the carriages being pulled all by themselves." _said Harry.

"Oh., because that isn't creepy at all on it's own." said Yang rolling his eyes.

"Here's yer first look at the school!" said Hagrid pointing to the right.

People in the boats turned to look in the direction he was pointing and a beautiful sight met their eyes. The moon was like a large backdrop behind a large stone castle, with towers and turrets alight with torches outside and within. The first years gasped loudly at the beauty that was the school of Hogwarts.

"Wow." said Ron.

"Wow is right." said Harry with wide eyes.

"We've seen this place." groaned Yang.

"_Not from this angle." _thought Harry.

As they cut smoothly through the water, Hagrid's boat suddenly lifted slightly and dropped him back down into the water with a splash.

"What was that?" asked a sandy haired boy in a boat further down the way.

Yang and Harry peered into the water.

"It's a giant squid..." said Yang.

"_And something else_." thought Harry softly, his green eyes glowing softly. .

The surface of the water than broke and the long, thrashing tentacles of a giant squid came into view, as well as the giant mouth of a some strange water dwelling beast. It's skin was a murky gray and it wasn't smooth like that of the squids, it had knobbled skin and black eyes that sunk deep within itself. The teeth that it possessed were jagged and was tinged with red.

"Arrgh!" shouted Ron as the side of the boat tipped, knocking him into the once calm water.

"Ron!" shouted Harry. He stood up into the boat and without another thought, he dove in.

"What the hell are you doing?" shouted Yang.

Harry dove deeper into the water, trying to find the unfortunate bystander that was involved in the eternal battle of survival of the fittest.

"Why are you doing this?" shouted Yang who hovered beside him as he gained on Ron's sinking form.

"_I'm not seeing Hagrid down here, and I can get to him faster than anyone else can." _thought Harry as he reached for Ron's hand.

Yang sighed. But gasped as the creature came closer to slicing one of his body's legs with it's claws.

"Watch it, will ya?" shouted Yang.

Hagrid looked down into the dark water, scanning it for the two boys that went down . He tried several times to go and help, but Octi the giant squid picked a bad time to stop anyone from entering the water. The creature was still there, and it was still fighting the school's squid, but as long as the students stayed in the boats, they were safe.

Too bad there were already two students in the water.

Then the two students' head broke the water. Harry's arm reached up and grabbed the side of the boat and heaved Ron into it's semi-dry safety. Ron coughed and gripped the side to steady himself.

"You okay Ron?" asked Harry trying to climb into the boat as well.

"F-Fine..." said Ron shakily.

"Liar." said Yang.

Then, the beast turned and opened it's mouth wide, threatening to swallow the boat whole.

"_Yang." _said Harry.

"Yeah, yeah." said Yang. He rose high into the air and then shot straight at the beast's head. He slipped through the beast's skin and entered it's mind. The beast thrashed about even more wildly, but then it calmed down. The creature blinked slowly, lowered it's claws and slowly sank back beneath the surface and disappeared.

"What the bloody hell was that?" said Ron staring at the water.

"Watch your mouth!" said Hermione.

"Who fucking cares?!" said Ron.

"Never saw that in the Black Lake before...yeh two alrigh'?" called Hagrid back to Harry and Ron.

"Just wet." said Ron yelling back, "Right Har..."

He happened to look down at Harry's leg...he was gripping his calf. It was bleeding profusely, and Ron could see the jagged edges where the creature's claws had cut into his flesh. Harry looked over to Hagrid and then to Ron...shaking his head quickly.

"We're fine Hagrid!" said Harry loudly. He brought a bloodied finger to his lips to shush Ron, making sure that Neville and Hermione didn't see. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue glass phial, tipping it's contents out onto his leg, washing away the blood and apparently the wound as well.

"How did you _do _that?" whispered Ron with a awe.

"Would you believe I made it?" said Harry with a smile.

"No." said Ron.

"Fine, I won't tell you then." said Harry with an even brighter smile.

"You weren't even lying were you?" said Yang with a smirk.

"You were there when I made it." said Harry. "It was in that book of Professor Snape's he's a great Potioneer."

"And I'll just _bet _he's a humble one as well." said Yang with a roll of his eyes.

"What were you _thinking?" _snapped Hermione.

"Ron wasn't coming up, so I went in after him." said Harry taking off his cloak and twisting the water out of it.

As Hermione berated the two of them, Ron stuttered thanks.

"Don't worry about it." said Harry with a smile. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"I'm going to throw up, I just know it." said Yang.

They made land with no further inconvenience, and continued up to the school. Hagrid had handed them over to McGonagall and were led into the Great Hall. Before they left, Hagrid muttered into McGonagall's ear, and she gave Harry and Ron a piercing stare, but after looking them up and down, and turning them around in circle, she led them on.

"She didn't even check..." said Yang.

"_No torn clothing, nothing to see_." thought Harry.

Yang looked down, "When did you find time to patch up our pants?"

Harry and Ron stood in front of the Sorting Hat, preparing for what was to come next, whether they be separated or put together.

"You sure you're not hurt anymore?" asked Ron.

"I'm just fine." said Harry.

"And you really made that stuff?" asked Ron.

"I told you I did." said Harry.

Ron looked forward as Neville was being sorted. "So...if we're separated..."

"We can still be friends." said Harry looking at Ron reassuringly.

"I'm going to gag with all this fluffy crap." said Yang with a groan.

Moments later, "Potter, Harry." said McGonagall voice as she read the parchment before her.

Muttering and whispering flitted across the hall, causing Yang to sigh heavily. "Go figure."

Harry walked up to the hat and allowed it to be placed on his head.

Ron, Hagrid and Dumbledore watched with bated breath. What house would he be put into? Ron figured that if he was as smart as he seemed to be, Ravenclaw was a sure bet. And if he was the hero that everyone (including himself) thought he was, then Gryffindor was also a possibility.

Dumbledore remembered reviewing Harry's educational transcripts and figured that Ravenclaw was a shoo in, he did have some courage, of that he had seen a sliver of it when he stood up to Mr. Pepper, so Gryffindor was also a possibility. Though...he did have some qualities that Slytherin and Hufflepuff students utilize...it would not be an easy sorting.

Then the brim of hat split, strangely the hat took a deep breath and bellowed: "_Chimera." _

Harry's eyes snapped open, and Yang floated above him looking confused.

"What the hell does that mean?" asked Yang.

"_Chimera, a mythological, fire-breathing monster, commonly represented with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail." _said Harry as if he were reciting the dictionary_. "But that doesn't just mean that. It can also mean several different things, mostly a creatures of horrible appearance. But there is one definition that stands out, with what the hat said: Genetics. an organism composed of two or more genetically distinct tissues, as an organism that is partly male and partly female, or an artificially produced individual having tissues of several species." _

Yang looked down at him. "So this piece of fabric...saw right through us."

"_In a fashion, yes_." said Harry. "_But Chimera can also mean something else with this situation. It could mean...we belong to more than one house, and it's this hat's way of settling the argument. Don't put us in a specific house, put u_s...

"_Into _all_ of them._"

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**Thanks for reading, please review!**

_**Question of the chapter! Would you rather shop in a thrift store, or a big box store? E.G Goodwill (thrift) Target (Big Box)**_


	7. Chapter 7 Floo Call Home

**Yay! A morning update at last!...only cause I'm now too broke to go anywhere for the day...what was I thinking last week?...Had fun though!**

**I don't own Harry Potter!**

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Dumbledore, and the rest of the staff stared at the youth whose eyes were hidden by the large hat. _Chimera_? What was that supposed to mean? It only had four choices, no more no less, why would the hat call out that word?

The rest of the students looked at the boy as well...it _was _Potter after all, but why did it create a new house for him? Was he too good for them? Did the hat think that he was in a class all on his own. Mutterings erupted over the hall.

"Little bastards...gossiping about us already." said Yang with a growl.

"_Nothing new there, kids are not known for their kindness...especially preteens._" thought Harry

"So what are we going to do about it? Beat them all up...that plans works with me." said Yang hopefully.

"_No...if it comes to explaining to everyone...best get it out in the open now, as opposed to later_." thought Harry.

"When it comes to be my turn to be out, I want to do what I want." said Yang sourly.

The hat was lifted off his head and he saw the students sending fierce glares up at him...and with a swift look behind himself, he saw a man with greasy hair glaring at him, along with a quivering man with a turban sending shocked looks his way.

Harry remembered he was supposed to act meek and mild, and looked down at the floor. A hand came gently down on his shoulder.

"Harry..." said Dumbledore with a soft voice. "It's alright son...we'll figure out something for you."

"What's he going to do?" said Yang. "Erase what just said by that dirty piece of felt?"

"_Yang._" thought Harry. "S-Sir...I...I'm sorry."

"It's alright," repeated Dumbledore with a smile. "It's not your fault in the slightest."

"Sir...could...I...is it possible for me to call home...?" said Harry with a squeak in his voice.

"There's no..._phone_...here...but I think I can arrange something...are you alright?" asked Dumbledore concernedly.

"I...I'm just going to need Mr. Pepper to calm me done...after this." said Harry, forcing his voice to tremble.

"After what?" asked Dumbledore, his face still concerned.

Harry stood up and looked at the floor, _Alright, this has to be as tragic and pitiful as I possibly can make it." _

"Better hand me a sick bucket then." said Yang.

"Sir...can I talk...out loud?" asked Harry meekly.

"To who?" asked Dumbledore

"To...them..." said Harry jerking his head towards the rest of the students.

"Are you comfortable with talking to all of them?" asked Dumbledore with amazement.

"Kids...are easier...they don't...hit first..." said Harry in a pale whisper.

He looked at the crushed look on the Headmaster's face through his eyelashes. "A...Alright..." said Dumbledore. "I'll be right behind you."

Harry took a deep breath, stood, and he focused his eyes on the floor.

"I could hear you..." Harry said in a moderately loud, quavering voice. "everyone here...I know the story behind my name...and my scar. I figure I know why the hat did what it did, and it's not what you think. It's not because I'm better than you, you all have something I don't and they vary person to person. It's because...and I suppose...the hat is trying to protect me from _you._"

The students looked at each other in confusion.

"I may be the boy who lived," said Harry, untying his tie and opened up his shirt. "But there came a price with what happened to my family." he showed everyone the scars on his chest. He spared them the larger wounds on his back. "This world took my family from me...made me a hero...but caused my life to be a...trial from beginning..." he brought his shirt together and tied his tie quickly. " to my end."

The students were silent as well as the teachers.

"I hope...we can live together...nicely...for the next seven years." said Harry finally looking up, his eyes wet with tears. Then he bolted towards the door.

"Sappy as hell..." said Yang gagging. "Overly dramatic too."

As they ran, a spell came from behind and closed the doors.

"Get back here, Potter." said a sneering voice, even though the tone was lacking sincerity.

"It's Snape, the greasy bat himself." said Yang.

"_Well...it's about time I take the whole 'talented youth' and run with it_." thought Harry. He whipped out his wand and waved it. The door clicked open and Harry slipped through. Harry hurried into the room across the hall and went to stand in the corner.

"What are we doing now?" asked Yang.

"_Now we wait...for the teachers...I'm not all that hungry...and you took all the sugar out of those snacks for me. Best get to crying...won't meet the expectations if I don'_t." said Harry sitting down in a chair and bringing his knees to his face.

"Oh don't cry...I hate it when you cry..." said Yang groaning. "Arrgh...there you go...God..."

After the feast became underway, (though it took quite a bit of time to get it back under control, the student body erupted in muttering and even a few girls had to be calmed down from crying by older students), Dumbledore made to follow the youth that left the Great Hall. He had attempted several times, but Snape and McGonagall made to stop him.

"The ghosts will alert to us if he gets into mischief." said McGonagall, her face pale from the sight she saw on the boy's skin.

"Let Potter enjoy his dramatics, I'll deal with him in the morning." said Snape with a sneer, though his face was a little gray.

"He's not in your house." said McGonagall.

"Nor in yours." said Snape.

"Once the feast commences, I'll go and find the boy. I've built some...slight relationship with him. He'll trust me." said Dumbledore.

And so he did, he walked out the moment the feast started. He exited the Great Hall, pausing to place a hand on the door. The boy didn't utter a word, he merely forced the doors open, despite Snape himself shutting it.

_Very impressive, he must have read his books very carefully, and perhaps even had an opportunity to practice_. thought Dumbledore with a smile.

He walked over to a waving picture.

"He's in here, Headmaster, the poor little thing is sobbing his heart out." said the portrait of a wizard fishing beside a brook.

"Thank you Archeaus." said Dumbledore. He opened the door softly and saw the boy crying in one of the seats. As he watched the boy, he felt his heart constrict, one moment the boy was happy, the next confused, then well-spoken, and now...broken again.

"Harry...?" said Dumbledore softly.

The boy looked up at him and he saw the boy's face was tear-stained, and he looked about ready to collapse.

"Sir...can...can I talk to...Mr. Pepper...?" hiccuped the boy.

"Of course...we can do it right here." said Dumbledore gesturing towards the fire.

"H-How?" asked Harry.

"It's called Floo calling, you just take a bit of this powder here." said Dumbledore taking a hold of a green powder from a flowerpot upon the mantlepiece.

"And Mr. Pepper will talk to me?" said Harry with a watery smile.

"You'll even get to see him." said Dumbledore. "Here you are, I've already set up a connection with the Floo Network, and I've told him to expect to see you in the living room fireplace."

He led the boy over to the fireplace and tossed the powder into the fireplace. "Now...just say where you live and you'll be able to talk to him through the fire."

"You mean, stick my head in the fire?" asked Harry with wonder in his watery eyes.

"That's right, but don't worry, you won't be burned, now go on...hopefully...he's still awake." said Dumbledore.

Harry got onto his knees, named the house in which he stayed in, "Shady Oak," and tentatively stuck his head into the fire. Lionus was there waiting for him.

"Is he still there?" asked Lionus.

Harry nodded.

"So, how did it go?" asked Lionus.

"The hat put in me in a new house. Chimera." said Harry.

Lionus chuckled. "It tried putting me in a strange house as well. Anything else?"

"I..." said Harry looking uncomfortable.

"You made a friend...didn't you?" said Lionus with a gleeful smile.

"I did, though, I don't know if he's going to stay that way." said Harry. "Also..."

"What?" asked Lionus.

"I showed off my scars..." said Harry.

Lionus looked at the boy in surprise. "And how many of them lost their lunches because of it?"

"They stared a little hard, and over half of them turned green." said Harry. "Seems I'm going to have to work pretty hard to get Snape to like me."

"If you...the son of his most hated rival can get him to like you...I'll give Yang that dagger of mine he always pines after." said Lionus with a laugh.

"He says your on." said Harry with a smile.

"What does he think of the part your supposed to play?" asked Lionus.

"He's gagging." said Harry.

"Not really shocking there, you have to play some sappy little Nancy boy." said Lionus with a smirk. "How are some of the other students, they seem inquisitive enough?"

"Well, I haven't been able to meet with a lot of them, but the other two I've met besides Ron..." said Harry.

Lionus smiled.

"One was Neville Longbottom," ("Poor kid." said Lionus shaking his head.) "and the other one is a Hermione Granger, she's a muggle born. Pretty intelligent, but she's going to be a thorn in Yang's side." said Harry.

"Likes the sound of her own voice?" said Lionus.

"Right in one." said Harry shaking his head. "I'll try and calm her down if I can get the time, I'd rather not have to deal with her all seven years I'm here."

"I don't blame you, nip it in the bud if you can do it." said Lionus nodding. "Want to continue the therapy session?" said Lionus as he looked at the clock. "Or have we taken up enough of the old man's time."

"Give him some credit, he came after me...he could have just sent Hagrid." said Harry.

"Well, have fun, and I'll expect a full report on Saturday." said Lionus. "That owl of yours...never seen one as bright as her...take good care of her."

"Yes sir." said Harry.

"And...Harry..." said Lionus.

Harry looked up at the man.

"Do me proud, _son_." said Lionus with a smile.

"He's getting mushy again, better slap him back into normalcy." said Yang.

Dumbledore waited to let the boy pull his head out of the fire. They had done this a time or two before for students who were homesick after a short train ride here. Harry was no different than they were, except, perhaps a bit more vulnerable and forcibly traumatized.

Before the child pulled his head out of the fire, his colleagues joined him...he didn't realize how long it had been.

"Albus...is he alright?" asked McGonagall.

"I think the talk home was a welcome relief to him." said Dumbledore.

Harry pulled his head out of the fire and turned. He gasped and leaned back, burning his back slightly in the flames. "Ah!"

"Easy lad." said Dumbledore coaxing Harry away from the fire. "There we are. Do you feel better?"

Snape snorted.

Harry turned to look at the man, and then looked down at the ground. "Y-Yes sir."

"Now, don't put any stock in Professor Snape's reactions. He's normally this cheerful, regardless of the time or day." said Flitwick stepping on Snape's foot.

"Ah! Harry...that reminds me...that book you picked out at Flourish and Blotts...Professor Snape would be the author." said Dumbledore with a smile.

Snape looked up and saw the boy look at him in disbelief.

"Doubtful he understood a word of it." said Snape with a frown.

"I did sir...well...not at first...but...I tried to make a few potions in it." said Harry softly.

"And failed miserably, no doubt." said Snape with a smirk.

"I managed to make the Healing Wash potion on my second try." said Harry quietly.

Snape turned and stared.

"Albus...where are we going to put the boy?" asked McGonagall. "The hat didn't pick a house."

"I think, until we choose, he may stay in the quarters just off my office. Until we can come up with a solution." said Dumbledore.

"Favoritism." muttered Snape.

"I beg your pardon Severus?" said Dumbledore with a faint smile, his eyes twinkling madly.

"But what would be the final decision, Albus? He can't stay in those quarters forever, and he can't be bounced from House to House." said Sprout, she then looked down at the boy. "Not that we wouldn't do that for you dear."

"Speak for yourself, woman." said Snape quietly.

"No...I suppose that wouldn't be feasible, however, we do have a spare tower." said Dumbledore.

"You cannot possibly think that he should stay in the tower unsupervised." said McGonagall in shock.

"Oh no...but perhaps...I can count on the Prefects, Head Boy and Girl...and perhaps a few of you to stop in and check up on him at odd intervals." said Dumbledore.

"Count me out." said Snape.

"_Good time as any."_ thought Harry. "Sir..." said Harry standing up and looking at Snape's back. "Professor Snape, sir?"

Snape stopped and turned his head.

"What?" asked Snape.

"I...I was hoping you could help me with the Sleeping Solution. I can never get the potion to turn the shade of blue that it shows in the book." said Harry hiding slightly behind Dumbledore.

Snape turned and glared at the boy, but turned back towards the door and walked out.

"I would have been shocked to death if he had spoken, now, you walked out without any food." said Dumbledore placing a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"I...I'm not hungry." said Harry looking down.

"Nonsense." said McGonagall. She waved her wand and a plate of chicken legs and rolls appeared on the table.

"I never noticed." said Dumbledore catching Harry's shoulder as he moved towards the table. "That earring in your ear."

Harry placed a hand to his ear covering the jeweled stud. "It was my last foster father...he...stabbed me in the ear with an ice pick."

"God, those people in New Personal are sick bastards." said Yang shaking his head.

"For what purpose?" said Flitwick in horror.

"Said it ran in his family, an earring for every year you turn ten." said Harry looking down at the ground. "Mr. Pepper gave me the stud, it was better than that bolt that..._he_...put in."

Dumbledore blinked, and watched Harry sit down and begin to tuck into the chicken legs and rolls. Every time he talked to the boy, he heard something that made his blood broil, his body would break out in a cold sweat and the lungs deplete themselves of air.

This boy was going to be the death of him...and he deserved it.

"How about this, we craft a door for each of us, and it can connect to our quarters, if the boy should need any of us, we will be readily available. Also, we can know if he's up to any mischief with any of his friends." said Sprout.

"I've only got the one, Ron...don't know if he's still..." said Harry.

"Oh he is, he tried taking after you, I had to stop him." said McGonagall. "I can tolerate one runaway, not two."

Harry looked up at McGonagall and smiled faintly.

"Now, finish up your dinner, and I'll take you to your temporary quarters." said Dumbledore after giving Harry a half hour to eat as he and the staff planned the redecoration of the unused tower.

Harry downed his milk and stood up, following Dumbledore out of the room.

"I hope he doesn't catch anything from this." said Sprout speaking of Dumbledore.

"One hour with that boy, and he'll have half the governors in the palm of his hand." said Flitwick. "I even heard a few of my Ravenclaw students plotting to hex anyone that would cause that harm to Potter's body."

"They'll have to get in line, the things I heard the twins come up with, I threatened them with the same if they followed through." said McGonagall. "Now if they came up with some Muggle methods, it would be another story."

"That poor thing...I don't blame the hat for wanting to put him in a house all by himself." said Sprout. "I wouldn't exactly trust too many people to not jostle me about."

McGonagall gripped the back of the chair tightly. "I told him..._I told him_..."

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**Thanks for reading! Please review!**

**Question of the Chapter! _Who is your favorite artist? e.g. Van Gogh, Warhol, Rembrandt_**

**My answer? Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night, I LOVE that painting!**


	8. Chapter 8 Meddlesome Granger

**Alright! 'Nother week down! **

**I don't own Harry Potter. There will be Hermione bashing in this story to start out with. So if you have unconditional love for Hermione, you're going to have a few rough weeks.**

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"Can't they find something else to talk about?" snapped Yang. "Are we the only excitement in their drab and dreary lives?"

"They're kids, they focus on one thing and don't turn away until something more fascinating comes along." said Harry.

"Quick, conjure up a purple flaming bunny and get them to shut the hell up." said Yang.

"I'm shocked that you said _bunny_." said Harry with a snicker.

"Don't make me _Force*_..." said Yang.

"Potter." came a voice that interrupted Harry and Yang's mental discussion. It was McGonagall coming up to him with a schedule in her hand. "Due to your...situation, we have to come up with a schedule and where you're to sit for meals..."

"Could I...sit with Ron?" said Harry softly. "Please?"

"We anticipated that, and you'll have your classes and meals coincide with the Gryffindors. If you have any problems, I've directed the prefects of all houses to give you assistance when you need it." said McGonagall. "Or you can come to any teacher if you cannot locate a prefect or Head Boy or Girl.

Harry nodded.

"Man, the other first years have more privacy." growled Yang.

"_And here you were relishing it last night._" thought Harry.

"That was before everyone started being so anal around us." said Yang.

Ron motioned over to Harry and gestured to him to take the seat beside him.

"Does he honestly think that we're going to sit with other people...I'd rather...but really...this is you." said Yang.

"Coming Ron." said Harry sliding next to Ron.

"Boy...can I read you like a bloody picture book." said Yang.

"So...rumor says that you got to have your own tower." said Ron as he tore into his bowl of cereal.

"Not yet, I'm staying in the guest room of Dumbledore's, they have to get the tower all set for me to stay in there safely." said Ron.

"Really? They don't trust you huh?" said Ron with a teasing smile.

"Ron, I may be pretty smart, but they can't trust an eleven year old boy to stay by himself." said Harry.

"Yeah, they'd be no better than the people the normal police and Aurors catch for child neglect...this Weasley is six kinds of stupid." said Yang.

"_I wonder if they'll ever be a day that you and he meet_?" thought Harry to himself.

"I'd slice him to ribbons." said Yang.

"_You wouldn't do that to a kid_." said Harry. "_As coarse as you sound, you still can't bring yourself to harm anyone younger than us, or even five years older_."

"Killing is one thing, beating the snot out of them is an entirely different." said Yang.

"So...what is it that you and Dumbledore do last night?" asked Ron. "Did he just send you off to bed...?"

"He and I had some cocoa and talked last night." said Harry.

"Good you need that." said Ron offhandedly.

"I needed cocoa?" said Harry with confusion.

"I think he's losing his mind." said Yang.

"No...you...need someone to do that with you." said Ron. Then he looked at Harry whose eyebrows were raised. "Well...you know...I mean...I've got my...and you don't..."

Yang groaned as Harry smiled.

"God...more sappy crap." said Yang.

"_I'm touched_..." thought Harry.

"I'm touched too, but healers nowadays call it nausea." said Yang.

"I don't see how they can do what they did." said a stiff voice from down the table.

"We go to sickening to annoying in less than five seconds." said Yang.

"Bloody hell...she wouldn't shut up about it last night. Everyone else was talking about it, but she was ranting about it." whispered Ron.

"Let's just ignore her." said Harry.

"I mean, shouldn't you be kept with everyone else, not just on your own...seems like they want to pave your path a little easier." said Hermione.

Ron looked at Harry with confusion etched on his face, as well as most of the students within earshot.

"Were you not paying attention? The hat put him in his own house..." said Fred.

"Good thing it didn't put us in our own house, we'd be bored..." said George.

"Or bruised from pranking each other so much." said Fred.

"And also didn't you see the scars on him? I wouldn't want to be manhandled by rough housing kids." said Percy a little shortly.

Hermione closed her mouth.

"Say something...tell her off for being annoying!" said Yang.

"_Oh...I'll do something, she thinks that this is just a way to pave my way a little easier...I'll show her."_ thought Harry.

"Going all out?" said Yang hopefully.

"_To a degree._" thought Harry.

"I just think..." said Hermione.

"If me sitting here bothers you, I can move down the way, Granger." said Harry a little sternly.

"You just don't see..." said Hermione rolling her eyes.

"Oh, I see alright. I remember seeing your name on the Top British students...number seventy-two...right?" said Harry.

"That's right." said Hermione proudly.

"I got number four...on a whim." said Harry. "I didn't take the assessment test seriously."

Hermione stared.

"They're not paving my way, and I don't need it. I intend to put the same amount brain to use on paper, I may be...uncomfortable around adults, but around kids like me...I don't hold back much." said Harry firmly. "And if you're concerned about my well being...I'm within calling distance of a teacher, prefect and Head Boy and Girl...funny...that sounds just like what you have." said Harry.

The kids around him stared.

"Ah...I love that silence, wish it could happen all the time." said Yang with a sigh.

"You don't sound like the same person like you did last night." said Hermione skeptically.

"That was the whole school, you're just one person with a severe misconception of the facts." said Harry with a frown. "Now, if you'll excuse me...I'd like to have some breakfast in peace."

Hermione scowled at Harry but turned back to her porridge.

"I love you!" whispered Ron excitedly.

Harry smiled and shook his head.

"Damn she's annoying." said Yang.

"_She's got a self-righteous streak, I hate that." _thought Harry. _"The rules and the law isn't a straight and narrow road to travel down. The laws were set with an ideal in mind, but not many people can follow those ideas as easily as others, so a good portion of people live in the grey area. Those that toe it to the line are fine, but the fanatics are the ones you have to watch out for." _

"Crazy nuts." said Yang. "How are we going to deter her?"

"_Get her to break a rule all on her own_." said Harry. "What class do we have first?" asked Harry.

"Let's see...uh...Herbology." said Ron. "Bill told me all about it, best not wear our favorite shirts and pants...we're going to stain the heck out of them."

"Don't we get aprons or something?" said Harry.

"Aww...is the dainty little Yin afwaid to get dirty?" said Yang teasingly.

"Yeah, but the dragon fertilizer she uses is strong," said Ron taking a large bite out of his toast. "it'll seep right through if there's too much of it. Charlie had a nice undershirt that he had gotten from Aunt Muriel...wore it to Herbology on the wrong day...Mum's still trying to get the stain out."

So they hurried out to the Greenhouses once their breakfast was done, Yang floating overhead and groaning in his usual fashion. "Man, I'm getting nothing to eat here."

"_We can switch out at lunch, if you want." _said Harry_. "That way you get the protein, but remember to keep quiet." _

"As long as Granger doesn't try and act all self-important." said Yang.

Professor Sprout smiled at all her students and clapped her hands together to get their attention.

"Alright, now, I want you all to know that while your books will help you...this is a hands on class. And I want to see your hands right down in the earth with your fingers touching and learning about the plants we are going to be studying. Like all teachers, I'll be giving points to your house for correct answers, but I'll be deducting points for wantonly destroying any plants in here. In this class, you'll hopefully learn to appreciate life." said Professor Sprout.

Yang looked around at the room surrounding him. He couldn't quite see anything worth keeping in the whole lot.

"For example...what is the importance of this plant?" asked Professor Sprout gesturing to a sparkling blue fern beside her.

Hermione looked at it, and flipped through her Thousand and One Herbs and Fungi book.

"It's a Saphirafern, they can be found in places with little to no rainfall, when a creature or person is thirsty, they just take a leaf, put it in their mouth and instantly they get a mouthful of water." said Harry looking at the flower after no one else spoke.

"Excellent! Ten poi..." said Professor Sprout.

"But you have to be careful which one you take, if you take a leaf that's not the right, bright shade of blue, you get a mouthful of toxin, the only antidote you can get is, amazingly, the poison of the amber viper." said Harry.

"Too far...you're going too far..." said Yang with a groan as he covered his eyes.

The students turned and stared, Professor Sprout as well.

"That's...that's right..." said Professor Sprout with a whisper. "Twenty points to...uh...Chimera."

Harry kept his gaze at the fern, refusing to meet the teacher's gaze.

"How did you know that?" hissed Hermione.

"It's in the book..." said Harry. "Then I bought a reference book for a few things that were inside that book."

Hermione frowned and turned her head away.

"She's getting on my nerves." said Yang.

"_That's why I'm the calm one, and you're the nutty one." _said Harry.

The rest of the class was spent pruning individual singing rose bushes. If they were progressing slowly and correctly, the bushes would prolong their songs and shimmer a bit, but if they snipped the wrong thing, the bush would shriek and stick them with thorns.

Neville, Hermione and Harry were the only ones to escape with less than six pricks to their fingers and palms.

"Nine, nine times that damn bush got me." said Ron squeezing the tips of his fingers.

"You went to fast and too close to the stem." said Harry with a smile. "Work your way down slow."

"Despite living in the Muggle world, you sure have a one up on most of us." said Ron.

"I studied a lot before I came here, Mr. Pepper described me as a person with an amazingly high IQ that gets bored amazingly easily. I read a book, memorizing it, and jump to another book that could have a connection or doesn't have one. Not all that fussy." said Harry.

"You gave Granger a run for her money." said Dean coming up beside him.

"Guess I was just getting revenge for this morning. I don't think I'll try and upstage her again." said Harry.

"And if she pushes you again?" said Seamus.

"I'll raise my hand again." said Harry looking forward.

"She's not all that bad, little pushy, but not that bad." said Neville quietly.

Harry turned and looked at the round faced boy. Neville took a step back and looked at the ground.

"God...what a pushover." said Yang.

"Your right." said Harry with a smile.

"He is?" said Yang.

"He is?" said Ron, Seamus and Dean.

"She's not all that bad, she just needs to relax. I think, once she finds someone to make friends with...she'll be just fine. She needs to loosen up." said Harry.

"You going to help her?" said Neville suspiciously.

"If she comes to me, waving a figurative white flag and extending her hand, then yes...I'll be her friend...but she has to make the effort. I didn't do anything to her." said Harry. "Do you think that's fair?"

"Well..." said Neville.

"Honest answer, you should never care what I think or what anyone else thinks when you have an opinion." said Harry sagely. "Learned that from Mr. Pepper." he added quickly.

"This is getting hard." said Yang.

"_You're telling me, I want to teach these dumb little pricks so that the world could be a better place._" thought Harry.

"Someone's getting testy..." said Yang with a sneer.

"Well," said Neville biting his lip. "I think...that maybe...she should apologize...and...maybe...well...no...an apology is good." said Neville.

Harry smiled at the round faced boy. "She should take some personality lessons from you."

"Why do you say that?" asked Yang and Neville.

"Oh for the love of..." said Yang shaking his head.

"I've only spoken to you for the cumulative time of fifteen minutes, and I already like you." said Harry with a bright smile.

Neville blushed faintly.

"I'm going to be sick." said Yang. "Can't you stop being sappy?"

"What's next, Ron?" said Harry as they entered the school.

"Well...we've got Transfiguration next." said Ron taking out the piece of parchment with the day's schedule. "Then we get lunch."

"You missed a great feast...does...talking in front of that large amount of people...hurt that much?" said Dean quietly.

"Kids are one thing, but talking that...candidly around adults...that's another matter all together." said Harry softly. "Other kids are something I can talk freely around, but adults...I learned adults will hit first and ask no questions later."

He walked ahead, leaving his new friends behind him, looking pale and horrified.

"Don't tell me...you're mass teaching the other students in the school to never hit their kids." said Yang with a smirk.

"_A whole school of humans that are most likely going to procreate, learn the horrors of abusing their kids or spouse...yeah...the shock treatment should work._"

Harry walked to the door that led to Transfiguration, but before he turned the knob, he heard a pair of voices from within, recognizing them as Hermione and McGonagall.

"That's enough, Miss Granger." scolded McGonagall.

"But it's not right! How can he be in a house by himself? It's not safe!"

"Miss Granger, he is taking the classes with the Gryffindors, and eating at your table, the only time he is alone is when he is sleeping, and the Headmaster is in the next room." said McGonagall firmly. "This matter is not up for discussion with you, it is between Potter and the staff."

"Has anyone even told his guardian?" said Hermione.

"Miss Granger!" said McGonagall indignantly.

"I don't believe this..." said Yang shaking his head.

"_Hopefully, we can nix this...if she continues on this path...I don't have any doubt that she'll turn into some right wing nut that will only cause people headaches later on down the road_." thought Harry, "_Standing up for what you think is right, is one thing, but not knowing all the facts behind it, it'll only hurt your credibility and give others a bad impression of you_."

"She keeps this up, and she's going to have the whole year and school against her..." said Yang. "Serves her right."

"_No...she'll be ostracized...and that can lead to even worse things down the road. She needs to be...set straight..._" thought Harry.

"And how are you going to do this?" asked Yang excitedly.

"_When we get my tower, let's invite her over_." said Harry.

"I don't like that plan."

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**Thanks for reading! Please review!**

**Halloween is coming up...what sort of candy did you want to get when you went trick-o-treating?**

**I wanted jawbreakers or bubblegum.**

*Force is when Yang will push Harry out and take over the body or vice-versa. Yang has never done that to Harry, but Harry has done it to Yang when he goes too far.


	9. Chapter 9 Chimera Tower

**I don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

A few days later, after the final class (History of Magic) Dumbledore pulled Harry aside.

"Afternoon Harry, I just wanted to tell you that we've gotten the tower all ready for you. Would you like to see it?" said Dumbledore with a smile.

"What took them so long?" said Yang with a smirk.

"S-Sure." said Harry nervously. "W-Why so soon?"

"Well, I suppose it's because that if we wait any longer, the staff won't have the time to enchant their respective doors to your tower. Shall we?" said Dumbledore extending his hand to lead Harry down to the corridor.

Harry walked beside the Headmaster silently out of all the thoughts that could be racing through his mind, Chimera Tower was not one of them. He was thinking about how his acting had been since he arrived. All in all, Harry would give himself a rating of five out of ten stars for his performance, compared to the other Rangers that were much better at it than him. It was shoddy and he wasn't sticking to any sort of consistency. He'd have to pick something and stick with it.

Dumbledore stole glances at the small boy walking beside him. He had heard conflicting reports from the teachers the boy had so far. Some of the teachers he had at first said that though he would raise his hand and answer questions even further than they expected he was still a mite timid. Then as the days went pass, he would open up even more and stand up for himself if some of the Slytherins decided to take the mickey out of him.

Was the boy just trying to find his own self in the school? Perhaps that was it, it took his father years to find that he was actually a kind and generous man...Harry just had to find who he was as well. Try out different personalities, hopefully he found one he could be proud of from years to come.

"How are your classes coming along? I heard that you are both very knowledgeable in the ones you've had thus far." said Dumbledore with a smile.

"Th-They're a lot of fun so far sir. It's kind of amazing to learn about magic after only reading about it in Fairy Tales." said Harry with a shy smile.

"I suppose it would be." said Dumbledore with smile in return. "I've also heard word that someone in particular is giving you a bit of a hard time."

Harry looked up at the man.

"A Miss Granger...I believe..." said Dumbledore.

"Oh...yeah...her..." said Harry looking down at the ground.

"Don't respond to her to harshly...Her head of house has talked to her...she was told to leave you be." said Dumbledore.

"Yeah, cause I can totally see that happening." said Yang.

Dumbledore looked down at the boy who was looking at the floor.

"Knut for you thoughts, dear boy." said Dumbledore.

"Well...it sort of makes me kinda mad..." said Harry softly.

"What does?" said Dumbledore kindly.

"She's so concerned over my well being and everything, where was she when I really needed help?" said Harry quietly.

Dumbledore stopped dead in his tracks and looked avoided the look on the boy's face. "I...I'm at a loss for words..."

"Oh...uh...not you sir...you're...um..." said Harry, stammering.

"Finish a damn sentence already!" said Yang.

"Ah, here we are." said Dumbledore gesturing towards a painted scene of the four founders, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravencalw were sitting down in large wooden chairs while Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin were standing behind them.

"Is this the boy?" said Helga Hufflepuff kindly.

"To think, he doesn't belong to just _one _house." said Godric Gryffindor with a smile. "Amazing, son."

"Amazing, nothing Godric," said Salazar Slytherin. "This boy is opposing our original ideals."

"Nonsense," said Rowena Ravenclaw. "This boy is creating a whole new chapter for the school...I can see many other students joining this new house. No offense meant, Helga."

"Not at all, I've seen a few students that would have fitted in more than one house, not just in my own, this is a wonderful idea." said Helga with a smile.

"These four Harry, as you can probably guess, are the four founders of the school, and like the Fat Lady of Gryffindor Tower and the rest of the paintings that protect places that the general students cannot gain entrance, they will keep the rest of the school out who do not know the password. The teachers and I are the only ones that have the password, aside from you. You may tell your friend, Ron, but take care about anyone beyond that." said Dumbledore with a smile.

"So what's the password, sir?" said Harry.

Dumbledore smiled and turned towards the painting, "_Pulchritudinous."_

"What the f*ck kind of password is that?" said Yang.

"_It's from that book I read_." thought Harry. "_Snape's book_."

"Still a messed up password." said Yang.

The founder's picture faded away to reveal a cherry wood door with a silver doorknob. Dumbledore turned the handle and allowed Harry to climb the stone stairs beyond. Harry reached the top of the winding stairs and saw a homely little sitting room, with a rich gold carpet before a roaring fireplace. A shield with the Hogwarts crest was over the fireplace.

"We don't quite have the Chimera crest, yet, hopefully we can come up with one reasonably soon." said Dumbledore looking around with a pleased smile.

Harry looked around the room, taking in the tapestries of different magical creatures, the four armchairs beside the fire and a sofa in the middle of the room, the tables with books, a chess board, and a deck of cards. There were bookshelves lining various parts of the wall and a large window with a window seat before it. Everything was either a gold or silver color.

"I hope you don't mind the color scheme, the staff was a little hard pressed to pick a set of colors, but these two were the ones we all could agree on." said Dumbledore. "Now, just up the stairs is your bedroom and your own bathroom. I will let you discover those on your own. You will see, there are five doors, each of them have a different house crest on them and the Hogwarts crest. My office door is just beyond the Hogwarts crest, McGonagall's office is beyond the Gryffindor crest, Flitwick's is beyond the Ravenclaws and so on and so forth. Severus...he may have locked his door on his side...I'm not all together sure."

"I...I don't want to bother anyone." said Harry softly.

"We would be most relieved if you were to be a bother, just to know that you are alright. Now, just in case there is something wrong, give a shout. They'll hear you and come to see what they can do to help." said Dumbledore with a smile.

Harry looked at the ground and nodded.

"Now, shall we go to dinner, I believe Mr. Weasley looked fairly worried when I removed you from his side." said Dumbledore.

"He...I don't know why he worries." said Harry.

"Friends worry about friends." said Dumbledore with a smile as he led Harry back down to the Great Hall.

Once dinner was over, and after Harry had bid Ron pleasant dreams (Yang wished Ron nothing but nightmares involving crawling things and monsters), Harry entered his own tower. He had figured that he would be in the tower by himself, he didn't figure that someone would be waiting for him just beyond the door.

Well... behind the door and waiting to grab him from behind.

"Mmmf!" said Harry grasping the hand.

"It's Snape..." said Yang flipping upside down to see the face hidden beneath the hood. "What the hell is he doing?"

"_He's powerful enough to just kill me on sight, (if I was a normal student) I suppose he testing me, to see if I really can't be with anyone...well...let's just teach him..." _thought Harry.

Harry used his arms and legs and flipped the Potions Master over his shoulder, causing him to body slam the table, he grabbed a vase shard and forced his eyes to take on a manic expression and raised to strike the man below him.

"Potter!" shouted the Potions Master, grasping the boy's wrist.

Harry blinked and pretended to look shocked. "P-Professor?" Harry backed up swiftly and gasped against the wall. "I...I'm sorry...I didn't..."

Snape got to his feet and cast off his cloak, his face was twisted in fury.

"What were you thinking?" spat Snape as he straightened his cloak.

"You just attacked us for no reason you bastard!" shouted Yang.

"I...just...I..." said Harry pretending to be shocked and horrified at what he did.

Snape looked at the quivering boy before him, and the scowl disappeared from his face.

"Have you finished your homework yet?" said Snape with a glance to the side.

"I...yes sir..." said Harry stammering.

"How can he do that without stripping the clutch in his brain?" said Yang staring at the potion master in shock.

"Let's see it then." said Snape walking over to the table.

Yang and Harry both stared at the man.

"Didn't he just attack you? What the f*ck?" said Yang.

"_Since when did you start swearing like that?_" thought Harry.

"Since everyone starting acting f*cking crazy!" said Yang.

Harry walked over to the man and lifted up his backpack. "W-What homework..."

"All of it."

Harry reached into the bag and pulled out several rolls of parchment. "I-I've only had Transfiguration, Herbology, History of Magic, and Charms. I-I have your class, Flying class and Astronomy yet to take...but why do you want to check my homework?"

"Someone has to make sure that you don't slack off in here, I won't be mollycoddling you like the other House heads, I will insist that you do your homework and complete it to the fullest extent that your...child-size brain can muster." said Snape.

"What a snarky bastard." muttered Yang.

Harry and Yang sat in silence as Snape unfurled the parchment roll and read his Transfiguration essay. He put the parchment down and said nothing. "What is your other homework?"

"It's just reading." said Harry.

"Than what is this other parchment?" said Snape gesturing towards the other rolls.

"That's...that's just things I've found out, I...didn't have anywhere to put them." said Harry.

"What things are you talking about, boy?"

"Just things I wanted to write down and remember for later..." said Harry softly.

Snape opened the rolls of parchment and read, his eyes widening slightly from time to time.

"What did you put on that parchment?" asked Yang.

"_Some insights from the books on our school list, through a first years eyes with a slightly higher than average intelligence_." thought Harry.

Snape put the rolls of parchment down and looked at Harry firmly.

"I want you to write me an essay on the reason Monkshood shouldn't be picked before three in the afternoon."

"What the hell kind of crap is that?" said Yang.

"_To test me more like it_." thought Harry. "Why sir?" asked Harry.

"I want to see if you were just writing down random facts or if you actually have a brain behind that skull of yours." said Snape. "I will expect it on Sunday."

With that he stood up and walked towards his door. "Do not disturb me unless it is absolutely necessary."

"I...I won't sir."

"See that you don't." said Snape as he closed his own door behind him.

"Well, ain't he cheery." said Yang.

Then a knock then came from the door with the Hufflepuff crest and Professor Sprout came in. She had in her arms a lovely clear vase in the shape of a tree.

"Hello, Potter, I thought I would bring something to brighten up your Common Room. My house's common room is full of flowers and...what happened in here?" said Professor Sprout looking at the overturn chair and the knocked over table.

"Uh...Professor...I knocked into it, I...I'm a bit clumsy today." said Harry straightening up the room quickly.

The professor looked at the boy skeptically, but thought nothing more, only the heads of the Houses were given the password to the boy's tower. The other teachers weren't notified, the less people knew the password, the safer the boy would be.

"Well, I have a nice vase for you, though, I couldn't quite pick what flowers to put in." said Professor Sprout. "I thought about roses, but then, what color would a boy like and..."

She faltered, Harry walked over, not thinking anything, not saying anything and waved his hand over the vase, seven green stems appeared in the vase and crept slowly to blossom into a bouquet of lilies, all various colors.

"I always liked lilies." said Harry with a soft smile, dropping the act and gazing at the flowers with intense fondness as he touched the petals tenderly.

"What is with you and those flowers, you're going to give us away." said Yang with a groan.

But Professor Sprout didn't look at Harry with suspicion, her eyes were watery and she placed a trembling hand over her mouth.

"I...I see...well...I'll let you enjoy the rest of the evening. If you need anything, just let me know." said Professor Sprout walking out of the room, reaching for her handkerchief and blowing her nose.

"I think I preferred dealing with the newbies at Headquarters, everyone here is so _sappy_." said Yang with a growl. "You keep doing these things, you're going to give us away."

Harry picked up the flowers and placed them in the center of the room.

"_That was nice of her." _thought Harry.

"Yeah...so what...oh who the hell is it now?" said Yang as he heard another knocking on the door.

This time it was Professor Flitwick, he had a few white boxes in his hand and a smile on his face.

"Well, Mr. Potter, what do you think of your new home?" said Professor Flitwick setting the boxes down a small table.

"It's wonderful." said Harry with a smile.

"I'm glad to hear that, we didn't always agree on the décor. Well, I've only got a minute, but everyone in my house get's some sweets when they first get sorted." said Professor Flitwick with a smile.

"Oh...thank you." said Harry with a smile.

"Gimmie, gimmie, gimmie." said Yang hovering over the boxes.

"I started this tradition when I became the head of my house, I'm fond of sweets you see, and well...to reward those who think a little deeper than most people..." said Flitwick with a smile. "I'd better get going, I had a detention to oversee and I'm a bit behind on grading fifth year papers."

Thank you very much, sir." said Harry.

"You're welcome." said Flitwick. "I'll be up till eleven o'clock, need anything just holler."

"Get in line..." said Yang.

Professor Flitwick left and Yang sighed loudly. "Tell me we aren't going to have anyone else..."

"If we do, we can just ignore them." said Harry.

The climbed the winding staircase to the bedroom, inside was a large canopy bed, with a warm fluffy quilt and a roaring fireplace at one end of the bedroom. There was a large window with a window seat in front of it, gazing over the Hogwarts grounds from it's towering height.

"Let's get some sleep." said Yang. "We've got the snarky bastard tomorrow. And if he's going to avoid getting killed by me tomorrow, I'm going to need to sleep and boost my patience level."

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**Thanks for reading, please review. **

**Here's an odd question: Who's your favorite Muppet? **

**Mine? I'm torn between Animal, Kermit and Uncle Deadly...you may want to google that last one. **


	10. Chapter 10 Evaluation

**Sorry I didn't get this updated earlier, there is a MASSIVE windstorm going on here and the internet at my house has been cutting in and out. It's insane! Nearly got blown off the porch when I went out for breakfast!**

**I don't own Harry Potter...But Happy Halloween everyone!**

* * *

It was a strange situation that had to be explained to every new chef, or medical team member.

Despite Harry's size and weight, he needed food and drink enough to feed two ravenous men, and sleep was deeper than even the heaviest sleeper...in a fashion. They would sleep in shifts, one would be in almost a comatose state, while the other would keep watch, that way, they maintained their energy levels.

If their energy levels became to low, due to lack of food or sleep, then the both of them would fight fiercely over the body they shared, desperate for shelter, lest they be ripped to shreds and cast into the subconscious, fighting to get back to the way it used to be. Getting back to normal could take weeks.

But that was before Hogwarts.

Just so Harry could blend in at the school, Dr. Nicodemus perfected a serum that would grant Harry and Yang the ability to use all the nutrients from the food, to such a degree that there was little to no waste, it would take weeks for Harry to have the need to use the facilities. Harry could eat like a normal teenage boy, and get the energy he needed to maintain both himself and Yang. Bathing would be the only reason for him to be in the bathroom at all. The only side-effect that Harry experienced was the serum was taking a bit of time to get used to, the first few days he had to eat a lot of sweets in order to maintain the both of them, hopefully today was going to be better.

The serum however couldn't be mass produced for countries of little nourishment, if a normal person, even a rudimentary Ranger were to inject himself with it, a small thing, even a single lettuce leaf would cause a man to gain almost half a pound.

Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table, and began to scoop himself a plate full of scrambled eggs and sausages.

"Ah, Harry, how did you sleep?" asked Dumbledore.

"Fine, sir." said Harry. "It was very nice."

"I'm glad to hear that, I've also heard that a few of the teachers came in to check on you." said Dumbledore.

"Yes sir, Professors Sprout, Flitwick and Snape came in to see me."

Dumbledore's eyes widened slightly. "Professor _Snape,_? He came to talk to you?"

"Yes sir, he wanted to make sure I was doing my homework." said Harry.

"Really? Well, I'm very...I'm glad that he willing to help." said Dumbledore.

_Just won't tell you that he nearly strangled me before that came about._ thought Harry.

"I'm glad you're doing so much better lad." said Dumbledore with a smile as he walked up to the Head table.

Harry smiled back and went back to his breakfast.

Potions class came immediately after breakfast, forcing Gryffindors to run up to their dorms and grab their books, potion kits and cauldrons. Harry had stashed his things under the seat where he sat and so he only had to walk down to the dungeons.

Yang finally awoke and stretched his frame as he floated overhead.

"Why didn't you wake me for breakfast?" asked Yang sourly.

_I remember the last time I woke you up, you blew half the side of our rooms to smithereens_. thought Harry with a smirk.

Yang said nothing.

"Oi! Potter!" came Draco's drawling voice.

"Not that little bastard again." moaned Yang, "I just woke up."

Harry turned to face the pale boy that was coming down the stairs, with two large boys flanking either side of him.

"So...Precious Potter...has to be kept from the rest of the students so we don't taint him..." sneered Draco.

"Smack him, right in the face." growled Yang.

"I'm sorry...who are you again?" asked Harry with a confused look.

"Nice." said Yang with a laugh.

Draco look insulted. "I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

"Oh, yeah. I saw you at Madam Malkins." said Harry.

"I saw you as well." said Draco with a sneer.

"Well...no shit Sherlock." said Yang rolling his eyes. "We were on a giant man's shoulder."

"Didn't want to leave your brute friends' shoulder?" asked Draco with sneer.

"I didn't think your father seemed like a _safe_ person to associate with."

Draco turned pink.

"My father..." said Draco shortly.

"What is going on here?" came a smooth voice. Snape had exited his classroom. The Potions master looked between the four of them with a plain look on his face.

"Nothing Professor Snape." said Draco quickly. "Potter was just..."

"I heard what had transpired, Draco, please don't lie to me." said Snape.

Draco stared at the man in front of him.

"All of you get inside, now." said Snape opening the door wide to usher the children in.

As they walked in, Snape caught Harry's shoulder and held him back, "See me after class."

"Y-Yes sir." said Harry quietly.

"What does he want to do now?" asked Yang. "Toss us over a desk?"

Harry raised his brow slightly.

"Arghh, that's not what I meant! I...not what I meant to say." said Yang with a groan.

As everyone piled into the classroom, and class began, Snape strode up to the front of the class and glared down to the students before him.

"This class is the hardest class you'll have here at Hogwarts. I do not approve of failure, nor childish behavior, you will succeed in this class, and act properly, or...you will find the results not to _your _liking." said Snape darkly.

A few of the students looked uneasy, especially the young boy with the toad.

"Man, he's mad." said Yang. "He's completely insane."

"_Shock treatment_." thought Harry with an internal smile. "_He's teaching the first years that you can't goof off in or around his class._"

"After that little talk, they'll be afraid to come in the door." said Yang. "Maybe we should have him come and give a little talk to the new recruits, the wannabes that want to join an organization that they don't have the skills or stomach for."

"_You have to give them time to adjust to new protocols and practices. None of them have worked anywhere where you can kill the target without a second thought." _thought Harry.

"They should have known what they were getting into." said Yang.

The class started with Snape quizzing, if you could call snapping at people and sneering if they got it wrong. Hermione, Draco and Harry were the only ones that were the only ones to get any of the questions correct.

And just as he was instructed, Harry hung back after class. He waved Ron on ahead as he walked to where Snape was sitting.

"Why did you not tell the Headmaster about my...roughly handling you?" asked Snape with a cold look.

"Ah..w-well.." said Harry nervously.

"The next time, anyone _anyone _handles you in a way you do not approve, you got either a teacher or the Headmaster." said Snape. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-Yes sir..." said Harry quietly.

Snape leaned back in his chair and looked at Harry. His face plain. "This is a school of and for children, but that doesn't mean that you should be harmed in any sense of the word. I want to hear, if not from you but from the rest of the staff that you have been bullied or abused, have I made myself clear once again?"

"Y-Yes sir." repeated Harry.

"That's all I required, go to your next class, and next time...try and get that stutter out of control. I will not have a student unintentionally copying Quirrell's annoying trait." said Snape waving him away.

"What the hell? He tells us to warn him about you being abused and what does he do right out of the gate? Tries to pretty much kidnap you and do lord knows what?" asked Yang looking back at the Potions master in shock.

"He's an enigma alright." said Harry.

"He's a psycho." said Yang.

Over the next few weeks, Harry had to keep answering the questions and do above and beyond some of the assignments just to keep Chimera in the running for the House Cup. He couldn't quite understand himself why he was caring if he won the House cup or not, but he felt that he had to keep at it in order to keep from falling behind and to keep up appearances.

Harry had heard of the Quidditch Cup, where all the houses would have a team and they would play against each house. Harry couldn't be a team all on his own, so he couldn't take part in it. But that was alright, he had other things that he had to do, he needed to evaluate the teachers.

Astrology class was pretty top notch, the teacher was patient with the potentially crabby students that just wanted to go to bed. She walked them through the different constellations and planets, and helped them map out the heavens. A few of the upper years bragged that they could find any star, planet they wanted without the use of a telescope.

Astrology: O

Transfiguration was a class that seemed to hold no nonsense and pushed its students to succeed. Professor McGonagall was not just the Head of Gryffindor house but also the Deputy Headmistress, and despite all the tasks she had to do in a day, she managed to get all that done, plus take care of the class and make sure she produced students that fully understood what they were supposed to do in class.

Transfiguration: O

Charms was a class that was enjoyable, even if they were just doing paperwork. Professor Flitwick allowed the students to have fun, but all the while they were learning. If they done their work and there was a little time left over, they were able to chat amongst themselves.

Charms: O

Professor Sprout's class was another one that took care to ensure that the students learned all they could and got them down and dirty, not just discussed the plants they were learning about. They were all hands on. Plenty of book learning, but also a healthy dose of practicality.

Herbology: O

Potions was a class much like Transfiguration, though Snape was a bit harsher towards some, but due to what Snape had done to Harry so far, Professor Severus Snape could be more bark than bite . As Harry sat during the class, he could see that Professor Snape knew his stuff, there was no doubt about that, however, Snape's approach to children had much left to be desired.

Potions: E.

History of Magic was the most boring school subject he had ever heard, it was only because Harry and Yang switched out every three minutes that they could endure the class without falling asleep. A ghost teaching the class was novel, but what wasn't novel was how boring it was.

History of Magic: P

So far that was all the classes he had, the classes were painfully easy for him, so he supposed that if most of the students were getting A's and up, then the school was doing alright, he'd have to ask the Educational Department of the Rangers.

Flying class was something that you were either good at or not. Madam Hooch was a superb teacher, making it easy for anyone to learn how to fly, Harry would have preferred to stretch his own wings, but that would have been a very difficult thing to explain away.

Hermione was a little peeved. She had worked hard to be the best in her school, just to really get respected, but all her fellow classmates ever did was make fun of her. So she began to study exceptionally hard scored the top scores in her grade. When she was told she was in the top one hundred students, she was as proud as anyone could ever hope to be.

Now that she learned that someone who was even higher on the list was at the school...a person that was at least fifty people ahead of her...it made her feel jealous. She _had _to beat him, she had to show him and the rest of the school she was the better witch.

Every time that someone would ask a question, it would be a fight to answer it between Harry or Hermione. What wasn't fair was that he would get twice as many points as she would when she answered it. So what if he was the only person in his house, he should have to work twice as hard to get as high as the rest of the houses, he shouldn't have agreed to be put in his own house.

When she voiced that opinion, she found herself eating alone as everyone else moved away to eat by themselves. This was all Potter's fault...

Draco looked at the raven haired youth that sat at a nearby table as they worked on a small potion. Potter was not what he had imagined him to be. All his life, he had pictured Potter living in the lap of luxury, much like himself...he didn't figure that the Boy-Who-Lived would have been abused by his family members.

He couldn't wrap his mind around it, his mother and father never struck him, his father wasn't all that...nurturing for the most part, but his mother adored him...Did parents really beat their kids like Potter's surrogate family did?

Potter didn't trust his father? Well, that wasn't all that surprising, given what his father believed in, but to inwardly know that...was sort of staggering. Not only that, but _Snape _had stood up for him...was he just trying to play to Potter's fame, or was it something else? He'd have to find out.

Yang frowned over at Hermione and Draco, he could peer into their minds and see what they were thinking. Draco was completely off the mark and that only made him smirk, Granger on the other hand, she was just annoying as hell.

She had a self-deserving streak in her that made him almost nauseous, compared to Harry...well...most people on the planet compared to Harry were as sophisticated as cavemen. Harry would have been labeled as a prim and proper little Nancy boy if he hadn't joined the Rangers. He had the strength and drive to lead an assault (Harry labeled it a defensive strike) against the foulest creatures they had faced known to date and yet he preferred to not fight whatsoever if he could avoid it. Like a freaking perfect angel...

He supposed that explained the names that one of the Healers gave them, Ranger Healer Parishioner, he was the most religious man that any Ranger had ever met. He even refused to believe in the magical sides of the world, all he would work on was the bullet and knife wounds that came from mundane weapons.

Despite wielding magic as a weapon, Parishioner adored, if not worshiped Yin...though Yin was not what he called him. Michael is what he called Yin. Which confused the hell out of Yang at first, then Yin told Yang that the reason behind the name was most likely the Archangel that led the attack against Satan, which is what Parishioner called Yang. Yang liked the name, sort of made him feel even more deadly than he already was, but Harry only groaned.

Michael, the Archangel, Defender of Heaven...yeah...he could see Harry as that...and he supposed he himself was the devil...but no...he wasn't the devil, he wasn't an angel...maybe like a lesser devil, but not the most vile person they both knew. The bat wings that he had on his back didn't pronounce his relative innocence in the slightest.

Not that Yang really cared. He knew there were worse people out there, and he was fully aware of one in particular...someone that gave even Star Captain Yin of the Rangers nightmares.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Please review!**

**Question of the chapter! What was the cutest Halloween costume you saw today? Or whenever your town celebrates it?**

**Mine? I saw these two little boys dressed up as Green Bay Packer players and their little baby brother was dressed up as a football! It was absolutely adorable!**


	11. Chapter 11 Halloween Exposure

**Sorry it took me so long to update, I had to do a long shift today and do some other things once I got home!**

**I saw that someone wrote to me (as a guest) that the name that Harry has at the Rangers is Yin-Yang...I thought it worked personally. It was a lot better than the other option I had, and now that I look back, that name kind of sucks. I like Yin-Yang myself and really, if it works for me, then it makes writing this fun. **

**I don't own Harry Potter.**

* * *

Weeks went by, and nothing new came about at the school, Harry continued his charade, but decided to open up slowly but surely around the adults, making it seem as if he was adjusting to a normal life at last. It was a lot easier on Harry, that way he didn't have to keep up with the charade for much longer. He may be Star Captain of the Rangers, but out of all the other Captains, he had little experience in the art of undercover work. But he figured that if he could slowly alter his new personality to his normal one, then it would be all the more easy for him to do day to day work.

"How much longer is this going to be? When are we going to be able to go home?" asked Yang in a bored voice.

"_It's going to be some time._" thought Harry as he watched Professor Quirrel go around the corner.

"What's wrong?" asked Yang.

"There is something about him...I need to do some checking up." said Harry with a frown.

The moment that Harry had some free time to ditch Ron and get to the Owlrey, Harry had sent Hedwig off to Headquarters with a request to know Quirrel's whereabouts and activities for the past two years. Unfortunately, being so far away from Headquarters and unable to enforce his demand with his voice and Yang's impatience meant that he'd have to wait the appropriate amount of days. He'd have to wait for five days at least for that to get processed, just like any other Ranger. Meanwhile, he was holding off on his evaluation of the Defense teacher, till he could find out more about him.

While that was going on, Halloween was fast approaching and everyone else seemed excited for the feast that was scheduled for the next night. Ron was excited for the pumpkin pies that were sure to be there, and bet all the boys in his dorm that he could eat his age in pumpkin pie slices.

"C'mon, let me get in on this action!" shouted Yang.

"We eat very little in public, don't you think that it's going to be a little odd if we all of a sudden wolf down food like a crazy person?" said Harry with a smirk, though his eyes looked a little somber.

"Don't care, I want pie." said Yang.

Harry sighed.

The next day, as everyone talked excitedly about the upcoming feast that night, Yang kept to himself in the back of the Defense Against the Dark Art's class. It was the first time that he and Harry had switched since the beginning of the school year for longer than two minutes at a time during classes. Yang proved to have little to no patience with the other students and Harry had to maintain the body at all times instead of a split shift.

Harry meanwhile was inspecting the contents of Professor Quirrell's office. Using an ability that he developed while in a pure Mental state, he forced himself to take on a more solid form, and with an enormous amount of mental effort, willed all the contents of the drawers and filing cabinets to open and fly around him, so he could inspect them. This way, he didn't leave any fingerprints, magical or otherwise.

As long as no one came in to see the papers fly around he was fine. Though, it wasn't just papers, a small, dirty potion phial fell to the ground with a tinkle and the glass shards flew about the air, nicking Harry's finger slightly, causing a small cut to appear, but Harry disregarded it.

Harry examined all the papers around him, but he couldn't find anything that seemed incriminating about the man. He seemed to be a reasonably normal teacher, with very shaky handwriting. There was nothing on the surface to alert attention, but Harry knew something was up. He had dealt with people who seemed perfect members of society but turned out to be the ones to look out for, never turn your back on them.

It's the ones that act meek and mild you have to keep watch on.

With no actual evidence, he was in the clear to deal with the man however he saw fit, provided he could have a good reason to do whatever he and Yang planned on doing. They had no plans as of yet, but it would come to them when the time came around.

The door handle began to turn and Harry had just enough time to melt his solid state away to one of pure, yet invisible mental energy, though he wasn't able to stop the swirling vortex of parchment and objects. The door opened and Dumbledore came in, a small amount of books in his arm. His eyes widened when he saw the swirling papers. He took out his wand and the walls in the room flashed brightly.

"I don't know who you are, but you won't be able to get away now. Show yourself, or I'll force you to reveal yourself whether you wish to or not." said Dumbledore firmly.

Harry looked at the walls of the office, he reached his hand and a spark of electricity surged through him, causing him to recoil slighlty.

"Do not try it, it won't go well for you." said Dumbledore. "You are only going to hurt yourself...spirit or otherwise. Show yourself."

Harry frowned, well...if that's what the Headmaster wants, he'll show himself...sort of...

Dumbledore gazed firmly at the circle of papers that spun around the room, whoever it was, it wasn't going to get away. It couldn't be a school ghost, or even Peeves, they know better than to invade in a teacher's office without another teacher's permission. If one of them did decide to invade their privacy, without a very excellent cause, they would find themselves evicted.

The swirling paper increased their speed and a figure appeared amongst the fluttering papers. But before he could see the actual description of the person, a blinding light surrounded it, he could see the outline of it, but not the details. He saw a thin figure with what looked like large feathered, opalescent wings glittering behind him.

"Who...or what are you?" said Dumbledore looking at the figure in awe.

The figure was silent.

"I need to know," said Dumbledore, gripping his wand tightly. "I need to know if you're harmful to my students or not."

The figure was silent for a moment. "I'm harmful to everyone." said the figure. The figure's voice seemed to alter it's pitch with each word it uttered.

"Then I cannot allow you to remain." said Dumbledore raising his wand.

"And yet, I'm willing to save everyone." said the figure cryptically.

Dumbledore blinked. "Are you renouncing what you said before?" asked Dumbledore, a frown on his face.

"I never renounce my pledges." said the figure.

Dumbledore's arm faltered slightly.

"I'll take my leave, for the moment." said Harry. "I'll be back...when I need to come back."

With another bright flash of light, the mysterious figure was gone. The papers stopped circling around the room and fluttered to the ground. Dumbledore looked piercingly around the room, had the figure really disappeared? Or was the figure just waiting in the wings somewhere?

Speaking of wings...what sort of wings were those? He had seen many birds both magical and non, and he had never seen any feathers of that sort. It was strange though...the way that figure made him feel...he felt completely vulnerable, as if there was no hope of succeeding against this figure, but he also felt...perhaps in the same way he himself made others feel.

The mysterious winged creature was dangerous, yet benign.

Harry came floating up behind Yang as he continued to doodle on the parchment paper.

"Is that a sword?" said Harry looking down at the doodle. It was a large samurai sword, with large black ribbons twirling around, it looked as if the sword cut if a finger was placed near the drawn blade.

"_Yeah, what about it?" _asked Yang shortly.

"Nothing, it looks good, your drawing is getting better." said Harry.

"_Did you find out anything?_" asked Yang.

"Nothing that can be seen with the naked eye right now. I don't trust him...something about him...it sets me off..." said Harry.

Y_ang mentally looked up at Harry. "My senses are as strong as yours how come I don't notice_?"

"Cause you're oblivious." said Harry with a smirk, but the smirk slid off his face. "Dumbledore walked in on me..."

Yang blinked, "_What happened_?"

"I showed him...my serious side...I don't think he knew what he was seeing." said Harry.

"_Well, that's a lucky break for us...if you had been caught, that would have been really bad._"

"You're telling me." said Harry.

"_Going to do the evaluation on this guy or what? The Educational Department has been harping at us..."_

"I told them that I wasn't comfortable with the evaluation...if they want it now, then they can come and do it themselve_s_." said Harry.

"_Well, aren't we getting testy.._." said Yang with a smirk.

The class dismissed and Harry and Yang traveled up to Chimera Tower to as they walked, Harry and Yang switched places.

"Man, I hate classwork...and these kids are just annoying as hell." said Yang sourly.

"_It's a good thing that I'm the one that has to stay out then isn't it?" _thought Harry.

"It's either that or we have to send their parents apology letters why I beat the hell out of them._" _said Yang.

"_Let's not...I don't want to get a cramp in my hand again after the last time you took out your frustrations against a group of people_."

They hurried upstairs to deposit their bag of books and looked at the fireplace.

"You gonna tell Lionus you showed yourself to Dumbledore?" asked Yang.

"_The only ones that have seen that form is you, the trainees, the Rangers and the people that are now dead..._" said Harry.

"Whoa, you showed him _that _form?" asked Yang in shock. "I was just thinking the more watered down version of that one...without the wings."

"_I didn't have much of a choice, any other form would have been a bit too recognizable, also, the flying papers helped a load_." thought Harry.

"So what do we do? Do we just go down to the Great Hall, or do we just let them enjoy their Halloween and hang out here." said Yang quietly. He had noticed that Harry's mood would slowly sink and his conversations would start to drift off into nothing.

Harry always seemed to stay to himself on Halloween, Yang would either just hover over him the entire night, keeping him company, or he would switch out with Harry and would take over for the night. This allowed Harry to slip into a sort of secluded area in their minds to rest and be by himself.

It was probably the thought of what happened on that Halloween night all those years ago, but he didn't talk about it, he just sat in thought, staring into space. They would do little to nothing on this night, the only night of the year that Harry seemed to just slink back into the shadows of the world, not willing to take part in anything, on the side of justice or not.

They sat on the couch, just watching the fire before them, allowing the feast to go on without them .

"This is the first Halloween without Lionus in...what four years?" said Yang.

Harry said nothing.

"You know, Dumbledore said that our fire connects to..._Mr. Pepper's _house...you wanna talk to Lionus?" asked Yang.

Harry once again said nothing.

"Can't blame you for _not _wanting to talk to him, he's annoying as hell on a good day." said Yang with a smirk. "I mean...really..."

A knock came at the door, and then Dumbledore entered the Chimera common room.

"Harry...are you alright? You weren't down at the Great Hall..." said Dumbledore, his face was relieved.

"Man, he must have been shocked by what he saw in you." said Yang. "Never saw him agitated like that, not even Fred or George's firecrackers get a rise out of him."

Harry still said nothing.

"Harry...?" said Dumbledore coming over to sit beside the boy. "Are you alright?"

"...Sorry...I...I don't like Halloween." said Harry faintly.

Dumbledore sighed softly. "Yes... Yes, I can understand why..."

"Does the man even know the reason why? We could not like people dressed up or have a phobia of jack-o-lanterns or something, how the hell would he know?" said Yang.

"Would you like to talk about it?" asked Dumbledore gently.

Harry shook his head. "Not really sir...sorry..."

Dumbledore nodded. "It's quite alright, have you talked to Mr. Pepper lately?"

"No..." said Harry.

"Sure, you'll answer him, but not me?" said Yang with a frown, but sighed leaned back in the open air. "Guess I should be grateful you're talking to someone..."

"Why don't you go and talk to him. I'll have some dinner brought up here for us." said Dumbledore.

"Why is he sticking around?" asked Yang.

"I'm not hungry, I'm just going to go to bed." said Harry mumbling. His voice was tight, as if he was choking back his words.

Without a moment more, Dumbledore wrapped his arms around Harry and held him close. Harry's eyes flashed and his hands curled as if he was going to claw at the old man's back, but his hand relaxed and allowed his face to be buried in the old man's shoulder.

"It's alright Harry, you can talk when you want to, I won't pressure you..." said Dumbledore. "I'm just...so glad that you trusted us enough to come here."

He felt hot tears seep into his cloak. Harry was crying.

Yang looked at the two of them and peered directly into Harry's mind, he _was _crying, this wasn't playacting or anything like that...what made this Dumbledore guy different then Lionus...and will Lionus like the idea of Harry being so...vulnerable around him?

Outside, just beyond the window, someone was peering in, and that someone, looked furious indeed.

* * *

**Thanks for reading, please review! **

**Hmm, Halloween is over, Thanksgiving is coming...what is the part of the Thanksgiving Day meal are you looking forward to? Mine is the brown and serve rolls...and the pumpkin pie..ooh, maybe I should make my butter pecan pumpkin pie! Yummy Yummy! **

**(Butter pecan pumpkin pie: It's butter pecan ice cream on top of the pumpkin pie, layered on like it's part of the pie itself!)**


	12. Chapter 12 Lionus Vs The Green Monster

**I didn't update yesterday, because I wasn't feeling the best and I had a long day at work. I'm lucky that I'm even updating today, cause I'm operating on five hours of sleep. **

**Oh boy...**

**Something else though, I will NOT be updating next week, It's going to be a tough week (due to my late mother's birthday) and my sister is coming up for a visit for the week. So she'll keep me busy, so busy in fact that me typing at all is a slim chance. **

**I don't own Harry Potter.**

* * *

Lionus tapped his fingers on the chair he sat in, annoyance raising and lowering the finger firmly upon the wood. He was angry...this school experiment wasn't going as he planned. He wanted Harry to investigate how the school was running and while he was at it put Dumbledore in his place...he wasn't supposed to be using Dumbledore as a beam of support on his most vulnerable night.

That was _his _job.

He had been Harry's shoulder to lean on since he came to join the Rangers. Seeing Harry collapse into Dumbledore...any other person he could swallow with some effort, but not that man. _Not _that man.

He could remember all those years ago when Harry first came to them. Just a kid with ideals about the perfect world, ideals that were destined to be squashed.

* * *

_It was on a rainy day, lighting crashing over head and thunder booming all around, Lionus was sitting on a bench in a deserted park, allowing the rain to come down upon him. He was meditating on his latest mission. He had gotten the men he was after, and a few people got caught in the crossfire...he was mournful of their loss, but he could only set aside those feelings. _

_Death happens, people die and nothing could stop that. All one can do is protect the masses, and respect the few that did not make it. It was harsh and a truth he did _not _want to accept, but he had no choice._

_He looked up and saw a young boy staring at him firmly. He was drenched from head to foot, and he could barely see the boy's green eyes under the bangs dripping down into his vision. The boy was also wearing baggy clothes and the edges of his shoes were peeling, revealing bare feet, his face and arms held healing bruises. _

"_What are you doing out here kid, your parents must be worried sick about you being out in the rain." said Lionus plainly. _

_The boy didn't say a word, it only continued to look at the man sitting on the bench. _

"What's with this kid_?" thought Lionus. _

"_You're a Ranger, aren't you?" said the boy. _

_Lionus's eyes widened in shock. _How does this kid know?How the hell does he even know what a _Ranger _is?

"_I want to join." said the kid sternly. _

"_And what makes you think I'm a Ranger, and what makes you so special?" said Lionus with a smirk. _

_The boy looked down in thought, but then he looked up with fire in his eyes. _

"_I wanna save the world." said Harry with serious tone. _

_Lionus looked at the boy standing before him. _

"_Don't be stupid." said Lionus. "You cannot save the world."_

* * *

Lionus leaned back in his chair. He didn't figure that Harry would amount to much, but that kid, something about him stuck with the Ranger and he couldn't seem to let the kid go, he took the kid under his wing. Especially after the boy told him who he was.

* * *

"_So what's your name kid?" asked Lionus as he covered the boy in his coat, shielding him from the rain. _

"_Harry, Harry Potter." said Harry softly. _

_Lionus blinked. "Well, well, the Boy-Who-Lived wants to join the Rangers, I expected this...but not for a long time." _

"_The what who what?" asked Harry. _

"_Seriously?" said Lionus._

* * *

Lionus could only smirk, thinking back on that day. The boy didn't even know what he was in the Magical world, but he wasn't about to tell the boy that, not until he made the commitment to the Rangers. Who he was, the determination on his face, Lionus wanted to have him in the ranks right then and there, especially after the boy told him about his home-life.

He took the boy into the Rangers officially three weeks after they had met.

* * *

"_Alright, kid, I'll let you into the Rangers, as a private, you're not going to get any special treatment because you're a little kid, I want you to train and become the strongest of us all." said Lionus. _

"_You think I can?" said Harry excitedly. _

"_Yeah, in about a twenty years or so." said Lionus with a chuckle. "Now," he took out a small black notebook and held it open. "This is the Black Book,by placing your hand on the page you mark this book and you're signing on with the Rangers. It's a lifetime commitment, and in a sense...we own you." _

_Harry looked down at the book with a conflicting look. _

"_Don't blame you if you want to enjoy your childhood...not that you've got much to go on. With the Dursleys in custody for child abuse and all...maybe a foster home..." _

_Harry placed his hand on the page immediately, causing the pages to glow and his name came scribbling on paper. _

"_Okay..." said Lionus looking at the paper._

* * *

He didn't figure Harry would sign up just like that, without even a thought to what would benefit him. He surmised that the boy still held some residual wish to play superhero though why he couldn't really pinpoint.

After the crappy hand life dealt him, he _should _be ready and willing to let the world go down in flames and do nothing to help it. Why was he risking his freedom to do whatever he wanted in life to join the Rangers?

Whatever his reasons were, they helped him stick with it all through Ranger training. Harry couldn't be put through the normal Ranger training, so he had to endure a more watered down version of what Lionus went through when he started.

* * *

"_Come on, kid. You need to be faster, stronger and smarter..." said Lionus as Harry stood before him and panted. They had just finished sparring, Harry was learning several different fighting styles and to use weapons that were readily available to Rookies. He wasn't bad, after all the practice and everything he did. It took him a while to be able to knock him back, but he was a bright kid, he figured out ways to extend the power from his small body and give Lionus a few small bruises._

"_You need to be ready for anything, unarmed or armed." said Lionus as he reared back and prepared to attack the young boy again. "This time, I'm coming armed." _

"_With what?" asked Harry bracing himself. _

"_That's what you have to figure out." said Lionus. _

_Harry moved forward, kicking off the ground and thrusting his small body towards Lionus. Lionus moved even faster towards Harry, pulling out a small green needle from the watch on his wrist. His arms were longer than Harry's was, it would be no surprise if he beat Harry in a single stroke. _

_But that little kid was getting better at dodging, and as Lionus extended the arm with the needle, Harry latched onto the Ranger's arm and kicked the man right in the neck. The Ranger groaned and leaned back away from the foot that was going deeper into his windpipe. _

"_Little menace." grunted Lionus with a smirk. He looked down at the boy that was still hanging onto the man's elbow was met with another sight. The boy's hair was no longer black, but white and his skin turned a dark black. His pupils were dilated_

"_HYAA!" said the boy tossing the man over his shoulder, throwing the man's body a good twenty feet away. _

_Lionus skidded into the ground and turned his gaze back to where he was standing. The boy was back to his old self, but the boy was now on the ground, his face pale and he was gasping for breath._

"_Harry?" said Lionus. _

_The boy wasn't moving, all he was doing was gasping for breath.._

* * *

Lionus smiled, Yrrah, or Yang as he preferred to be called (He said it sounded less stupid and cliché.) finally made his debut outside of Harry's mind, but Harry needed to be stronger in order to really maintain him. It would take months for Harry to finally get enough strength and stamina to keep Yang out for longer than a second and to allow Yang to be heard, and just by people who could peer into people's minds.

Dr. Nicodemus discovered that Yrrah (Yang) was the darker nature of Harry's thoughts, Lionus himself wasn't surprised when such an angelic looking and acting boy had a devil deep within him. Some people had dual personalities and in the most intense situations, they would come to the surface. Yang was one of those cases, but to the extreme.

He had his own intelligence, his own tastes and principals. When Yang would speak out loud, it would unnerve a few of the Rangers and give Harry a wide berth. Harry himself was a nice, soft spoken young man that could mop the floor with you if it came to that, Yang was a verbally and physically offensive youth that would not hesitate to cause massive damage to someone who even remotely sneezed in his direction.

Despite all the training they did and the astonishing advancement in the ranks that Harry and Yang did, Halloween always seemed to be the one day that Harry didn't do anything, but just locked himself in his rooms. He would become deeply depressed and then seemed to seclude himself away. Not even Yang had the heart to take over for the day and just go about normal Ranger duties.

The first Halloween he saw Harry act so vulnerable, he instinctively took Harry into his arms and held onto him, even Harry's Lieutenant Longsword had never seen Harry act that way, and if he had, the Lieutenant would most assuredly try and find the cause and bring an end to it.

But now, now Dumbledore was apparently taking his place. He'd have to put a stop to that. And to do that, he'd have to go to Hogwarts and confront that Star Captain of his.

* * *

It was the day after Halloween, and Harry was sitting in his Common Room, reading one of the many books from his bookshelves. He was relaxing in the calming silence of his own tower, when the candles and the fireplace went out and in the moonlight, the area around the chairs shimmered, as if covered in miniscule diamonds. He looked up from his book and looked around the room, unsheathing a hidden blade from his sleeve.

"Looks like the old man is paying us a visit." said Yang with a smirk.

A flash of light, came from the other chair and there Lionus sat. He was dressed all in black and he had a dark look on his face.

"Hello sir." said Harry putting the hidden blade back into his cuff.

"How are you?" said Lionus with a frown.

"I'm just fine, sir." said Harry.

"Don't lie to him." said Yang.

"Don't lie to me." said Lionus.

"Gah!" said Yang. "I don't want to sound like the old man!"

"I don't know what you mean sir." said Harry.

"I...it's the day after Halloween, you're never fine after Halloween."

Harry looked off to the side. "I...I made it through this year."

"With Dumbledore's help." said Lionus darkly.

"Uh oh." said Yang.

"He was here..." said Harry. "I didn't think it would look good if you were to show up..."

Lionus snarled.

"I was thinking of the mission." said Harry with a quiet voice.

"Not at the time you weren't, but we'll go with it." said Yang.

Lionus stood up suddenly and turned towards the cooling fireplace.

"What's the matter sir?" asked Harry.

"Nothing, continue with the evaluations. I'll be in contact with you if I need anything else." said Lionus as he caused the room to flash with light again and he disappeared once the light faded.

Yang looked at the spot where Lionus sat. "Well, that was uncharacteristically quick." Yang looked down at Harry. "So, now that you got to get your ass kicked by the old man by letting yourself get hugged by Dumbledore, are you ready to _get_ your ass in gear?"

"_Sure_." thought Harry putting the book down. "_Guess you were right, he's not fond of Dumbledore all that much is he_?"

"Down right jealous of him." said Yang thoughtfully. "Wonder why that is, he's got more power than the super old fart's got."

"_He always was a bit hostile towards Dumbledore, why I have no idea, I didn't figure that it would follow through to my and his interactions_." thought Harry.

"Well, let's call it a night." said Yang.

"_Yeah, you'd better get all the rest you can get. I'm going to do something tomorrow you aren't going to like_." thought Harry.

"Well, that's nothing new." said Yang.

* * *

The next morning, Harry and Yang were having an argument.

"I don't want to do this." snarled Yang.

"_If we don't fix this, it'll only get worse._" thought Harry. _"This is the only way to staunch her attitude." _

"I like my way better." said Yang.

"_Boys shouldn't hit girls_." thought Harry.

"Who said anything about hitting..." said Yang.

"_You did_." thought Harry.

"You must have misheard me." said Yang.

"_I sort of doubt that, but come on, I need to get down to the kitchens and get ready for the little dinner party._" thought Harry.

As they turned the corner down towards the kitchens, Dumbledore came around the corner.

"Ah, Harry...what brings you down this way?" asked Dumbledore. '

"Well, I...I wanted to have a dinner party...cause I missed Halloween." said Harry softly. "I just wanted to invite a few friends."

"Ah, well, I don't think that would go amiss, provided a staff member is also at the festivities, as a chaperone." said Dumbledore thoughtfully.

"Liar, he just wants to be invited to a party." sneered Yang.

" Though, what does the kitchens have to do with you inviting friends?" said Dumbledore with a smile.

"I thought...that I would make some things." said Harry quietly, "Sort of Halloween themed."

"We do have House-elves, dear boy." said Dumbledore.

"I know, I just thought, I'd...make it special." said Harry looking down at the floor.

Dumbledore looked at the boy with a smile. Alas, he found that he was wrapped around this child's finger, when did that happen? "Well, I think that there should be no real issue there. So long as the House-elves keep a close eye on you."

"Could...you...come?" asked Harry quietly. "To the party?"

"Lionus is going to kill you." said Yang rolling his eyes.

Dumbledore smiled. "I'd be delighted, which houses are going to be in attendance?"

"Lionus is _really_ going to kill you.' said Yang.

"I...only know-know people from Gryffindor..." said Harry sheepishly.

"And all the Gryffindors that are attending, who might they be?" asked Dumbledore.

"Well, Ron's brothers are coming, Dean, Seamus, Neville, Lavender, Parvarti, and..." said Harry.

"Miss Granger?" said Dumbledore with a smile.

"Well, maybe she'll lighten up, if she has some fun?" said Harry hopefully.

"She'll have fun, and I'll get a migraine, even exchange I guess." groaned Yang.

"I think that's a fine idea." said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling.

"You're the only one." said Yang.

"And when does this party start?" asked Dumbledore.

"Uh...five sir, right before dinner." said Harry.

"Then I shall be there a half hour before, to assist in the decorations." said Dumbledore.

"You don't have to!" said Harry.

"Ah, but I insist, I have a few interesting Halloween tricks up my sleeve, it will be a nice opportunity to use them." said Dumbledore with a smile.

* * *

Down in the kitchens, Harry had his arms loaded with a cornucopia of things.

"I still can't believe that we're throwing a party, a party for that annoying..." said Yang grumbling loudly.

"_Get used to the idea, this is a nice calm way to just have her make friends. If we can get through to her, we can get her to calm down, and you won't have to beat up a little girl_." thought Harry.

"Ha ha." muttered Yang. "So what are we going to have at this little shindig?"

"_Oh, some small things, the elves will make the bigger meal items, this is just for snacking._" thought Harry.

"I think you're excited about throwing this party." said Yang with a smirk.

"_Shut up._"

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**Thanks for reading, please review. **

**Question of the chapter. _Thinks about the upcoming day..._**

**_Have you hugged your mom/dad/surrogate parent today? _**


	13. Chapter 13 Accident or Assault

**This is going to be a very hard week and uploading on Friday was/is certainly not going to happen. I've got to work all day Wednesday, all morning Thursday, all afternoon and most of the night Friday, and all morning Saturday...yeah...uploading this week would have been impossible if I didn't have today to do it.**

**I don't own Harry Potter.**

**First time in six years working for a bigger store on Thanksgiving and Black Friday...I forgot how stressful retail can be during Black Friday week.**

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Ron walked in silence, at first he was excited to go and have a post Halloween party with his best mate, all the other boys in his dorm, his older brothers, and not to mention a few of the girls. The only marring thing about this whole thing was that Hermione was also walking behind them.

"I hope that the teachers know about this." said Hermione quietly.

"McGonagall said she will be in attendance, Granger." said Percy with a groan. "Even Dumbledore, just enjoy the fact that Potter invited you."

"Especially the snarky way you act around him." said Ron.

Hermione huffed.

"He's really nice, you know, Hermione." said Neville. He had been trying to get Hermione and Harry to become friends, that way he didn't feel like he was stuck in the middle. "And he's wicked smart!"

"I know how smart he is." snapped Hermione, a twinge of jelousy raising in her throat.

"Fighting in the corridors?" came a drawling voice from around the corner.

The Potions Master stepped out and looked at the small group, a sneer on his face. "And where are we all off to together in such a..." he looked pointedly at Hermione. "_cordial..._manner?"

"Chimera tower, Professor." said Percy swiftly. "Potter is throwing a Halloween gathering."

"I've heard...take care to not act unruly at this..._gathering_. Any rule breaking," he looked at Fred and George. "Headmaster approved or not, I will not hesitate to dispense punishment accordingly." with that he turned and stalked away.

"Man...he's scary." said Neville shuddering.

"Don't worry, he's all...well...nevermind." said Percy. "Let's get going."

As they neared the tower, the portrait of the four founders waved them over. "This way, children." said Helga Hufflepuff with a smile.

Hermione squealed in delight and raced over to the painting. "Oh wow! I didn't realize there was a picture of you here! I have so many questions!"

Slytherin groaned loudly, and moaned after Rowena Ravenclaw nudged him hard in the stomach. "Don't quell an inquisitive mind!"

"But there is a party going to start inside, you can ask us anything you want," said Helga with a smile to Hermione. ("Not me." said Salazar quickly.) "but for now, just go on in."

"Hold on, Helga, they didn't give us the password." said Godric with a laugh. "Honestly, she loves a good party, she'd let even a banshee into one of her soirees."

"So, Percy, what's the password?" asked Fred.

"It's, _Pulchritudinous_." said Ron, stumbling over the word slightly.

"Kudos to you for pronouncing it right." said Rowena Ravenclaw with a smile.

"Did Harry pronounce it right the first time?" asked Neville.

"Strangely enough he he did, as if he's used the word before." said Helga Hufflepuff.

"He's got Slytherin and Ravenclaw intelligence." said Slytherin with a smirk. "Now, let's let these toddlers inside."

The painting faded away to reveal the cherrywood door with the silver handle.

"Well, got to admit, no one is going to be pulling that word out of the air." said Fred.

"I don't think we can even remember that password." said George.

"That's probably the point, that way no one can get in on a fluke." said Neville sheepishly.

"That's what Harry figures." said Ron, as he stepped through the door.

As they walked inside, they smiled at the décor. There were black paper bats flapping around the ceiling, a few floating jack-o-lanterns bobbing in the air, and even a few of the school ghosts had made an appearance and were chatting amicably around the room.

There was a large table in the middle of the room, on it, it was laden with ghoulish looking creations. There was a large punch bowl full of a reddish liquid, with a large hand made of ice floating on top, deviled eggs that looked like bloodshot eyes, breadsticks shaped like bones, and a large orange pumpkin shaped cake.

There was a large pile of fried chicken wings on a black plate and another with a pyramid of fruit skewed with sticks.

At the table with toffee apples and small gelatin figures, they saw Harry setting his vase of tiger lilies off to the side, so they would be damaged in whatever activity was started.

"This place looks amazing Harry!" said Ron and Neville walking over to Harry.

"Thanks!" said Harry with a smile.

"Damn, they didn't get lost." said Yang groaning.

'What all teachers will be joining us?" asked Percy with a smile as he took a small biscuit off the table.

"Well, Professor Dumbledore helped with the decorations, but he had to step out for a moment, and McGonagall said she'd stop by once the rest of the school was squared away. I don't know if the other teachers are going to stop by, they might later on." said Harry.

"As long as Snape doesn't show." muttered Neville.

"He did say he was busy, but he did drop off that cauldron, it's got fog coming out of it." said Harry pointing to the corner, where a menacing looking cauldron stood, a gloomy fog crept off the lip and flowed smoothly onto the floor.

"Seriously, he dropped it off?" said Ron looking suspicious. "Wonder if it's poisoned smoke?"

"If it was, I'd be dead by now, he brought it by early this morning." said Harry with a shrug. "Do you guys want to play some games, or have a serious bite to eat first? I've never hosted my own party."

"Let's play some games, and take nibblies on the way." said Fred looking at the tables of food. "Where Hermione run off to?"

Harry looked around. "There she is, she's by one of the bookcases."

"Come on Hermione, this is supposed to be a party." said Lavender.

"But...these books..." said Hermione reading each book spine quickly.

"You can borrow them if you want, come on and let's play!" said Harry with a smile.

"I'm going to kill someone, I know I'm going to kill someone." said Yang slowly.

As the night rolled on, the guests and Harry enjoyed taking part in several games, Percy was at first a little hesitant in the very enthusiastic game of charades, but after a while, he would do the maddest actions to portray what he was supposed to be.

As Percy clawed the air in front of him, in front of the laughing, shouting students, George leaned over to Harry.

"I've never seen Percy act like this, Fred and I have been waiting _years _for him to let himself loosen up." said George.

"You'd never think he was uptight with him doing that!" said Harry clapping as Hermione guessed correctly what he was doing.

Even Hermione was beginning to have fun, though she would blush and look indignant if no one could get what she was supposed to be,

"Time's up!" said Percy stopping the stopwatch.

"Come on! It was supposed to be Polyjuice Potion!" said Hermione.

"What's that?" asked Ron and Neville together.

"Arrgh, sorry Hermione." said Harry shaking his head.

"I've been shouting that!" yelled Yang.

"_Oh you were not." _thought Harry with a smirk.

Harry stood up to refill his cup of punch, he was a little concerned about the teachers and the rest of the school. None of the teachers had looked in at them, but had only sent a message through Nearly Headless Nick, telling them to not leave the tower under any circumstances without a teacher coming to fetch them.

That confused Harry and Yang, students had the run of the castle till at least eight o'clock, why were they not allowed out? Especially since it was only six o'clock.

Yang had slipped down to the Great Hall, and discovered that there was no one in the Great Hall and the teachers themselves were patrolling the corridors looking for something, and that something was a troll.

From what the ghosts were whispering, someone inside the castle had let the troll in, possibly Peeves as no one could locate the poltergeist. Though, it sounded a bit out of character for the prank loving ghost, he wasn't into putting the children into actual danger. Giving them a harmless cold was one thing, but bringing a dangerous creature into the school was something different.

Harry figured it had to be Quirrell, he was the only one inside the school that made any sense. And even then, it was just Harry's gut that told him to be wary of the turbaned man, Yang was slightly unconvinced.

They had a quick discussion and decided to let the teachers handle the troll, it was a simple matter and with the students safely tucked away in their houses, they didn't need to exert any energy for a simple stupid troll. No point getting the others agitated when they were just having a good time.

Harry poured himself a glass of punch and drank it down, when he did. he gasped.

"What's up? Too cold?" said Yang looking down.

Harry clutched his throat, he couldn't catch his breath and the room began to spin.

"Hey, are you alright?" said Yang lowering himself. "Do you..."

"S-Stay...out..." gasped Harry out loud, he dropped the glass causing it to shatter.

"Harry? Harry? Are you okay?" said Percy standing up and hurrying over to the boy.

"Get...get...th...ch..." Harry collapsed to the ground, completely still.

"Nick! Get the Headmaster!" said Percy, he picked Harry up and made his way to the door that led to the corridor outside.

"No! No!" shouted Nearly Headless Nick. "Take him upstairs to his bed, I'll get help!" He floated swiftly out of the room.

It was a scary hour after Harry had crumpled to the the floor and the Headmaster and Madam Pomfrey came running in. They had been ushered out to the Common Room and were ordered to wait for McGonagall to come and take them back to their own house.

They sat, either watching the fire crackle in the fireplace or thumbing lazily through the books in the bookshelf. Even Hermione was sullen and looked worried.

"I wonder if he's okay." said Ron thickly.

"I'm sure he'll be fine." said Percy giving his youngest brother a one arm hug.

A few tense moments later, the Headmaster came down the stairs, looking tired, but relived. The students came over to him.

"Is he alright?" asked the students in unison.

"He'll be fine, it was a close thing, but we managed to get the right antidote to him." said Dumbledore easing into a chair. "But it was odd, that the rest of you didn't get ill as he did."

"I can't answer that sir." said Percy softly. "We all ate the same things, but the rest of us are fine."

"If you know the antidote, surely you know what poison it was that got to Harry." said Hermione worriedly.

"The fact of the matter is, we used a type of cure-all for Harry's poisoning." said Dumbledore leaning back in the chair. "We ran out of options, and time."

"So...Harry...just about died tonight." said Ron shakily.

"Unfortunately yes, Mr. Weasley." said Dumbledore slowly. "But thankfully and with plenty of care and rest, he'll be just fine in a matter of weeks."

"This...is not a good way to end a party." said George with a weak smile.

Harry lay in bed, his figure motionless, except for the occasional rising and falling of his chest. All was silent on outside, but Yang was shouting up a storm.

"How the hell did this happen? Why the hell did this happen? No one knows what we are, and they wouldn't be so stupid to attempt poison on us! And why did you not let me inside? We could have fought off the poison together?"

"_This...wasn't...normal poison." _thought Harry

"Then what the hell was it?" asked Yang his voice growing softer. Harry sounded so tried, and weak...not like the weaker sounding tone Harry was spewing for the masses, this was..._real_.

"I saved a bit of it, but we need to get it to Dr. Nicodemus before I'm in the same fix as before." said Harry.

_Rangers that tend to go on solo missions have a surgically implanted sac beside their liver where a Ranger can take the poison that had infiltrated their bodies, prolong the symptoms of the poison or even death and store it in the sac so it can be analyzed by the Head Healer at Headquarters. _

_Alas, this is not a long term fix, the Ranger has two days to find a Ranger approved Healer and have the poison removed from the sac before it the sac ruptures from the strain and the poison pools into back into the body._

_If the Ranger gets to a healer, the poison is analyzed and a serum is created, if the Ranger dies by the poison, the Ranger Healer can still find out the nature and cure for the poison, but how they came about it would remain a mystery. Once a Ranger becomes poisoned, it is recommended protocol to remove yourself from whatever mission you are on and go back to Headquarters. _

"Well, then let's call off this stupid school thing and then get to Dr. Nicodemus." said Yang.

"_I would, if I could move._" thought Harry. "_I don't think I could even speak if I wanted to." _

"Harry...?" came a voice.

Dumbledore came in and sat in the chair beside Harry's bed. He looked tired and worn, Yang didn't even have the heart to berate the man, and he could give snarky comments to a nun.

"Harry, can you hear me?" said Dumbledore softly. "If you can hear me child, give me a sign, anything."

He took Harry's hand in his own veined one, and he could feel the child give his hand the softest of squeezes.

"You'll be alright child, Madam Pomfrey and I took care of what was ailing you." said Dumbledore, caressing Harry's hand tenderly. He thought about what he was going to say next, but he felt that he didn't have any choice. It was school rules that if a child's life was in danger, the parents were allowed to come and be with the student. Muggle or otherwise.

"Do you want me to bring Mr. Pepper here?"

"YES!" shouted Yang.

Harry squeezed the Headmaster's hand.

"He'll be here in a few hours, don't you worry. I'll have McGonagall sit with you until I return, alright?"

As the boy squeezed the man's hand again, McGonagall came in, her face was pale and her hands were shaking.

"Minerva, I need you to..." said Dumbledore.

"Albus, Fluffy's dead." said McGonagall.

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**Thanks for reading, please review!**

**Question of the Chapter! Hmm...I'm in a musicy kind of mood...What's your favorite villain song, or song sung by or about the antagonist? **

**Mine? Oh man...Mine is a multi tie between "Friends on the Other Side" (Princess and the Frog) "I Won't be Happy Till I Get It" (Ray Bolger in Babes In Toyland. _Now on Netflix watch Instantly_) "Be Prepared" (Lion King) "I'll Get You What You Want" (Muppets Most Wanted) "In The Dark of the Night" (Anastasia) "Professional Pirate" (Muppet Treasure Island) and those are just the ones I can come up with right now!**


	14. Chapter 14 Anticlimatic Apprehending

**Whew, what a long day I've had today...**

**I don't own Harry Potter**

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Lionus sat in the living room of the Ranger base, Shady Oak,and sipped a cup of coffee that he had poured for himself and the man that sat across from him. The man was a stocky, elderly man with a medium length white beard and a bald head.

"Parishioner has been asking for Yin-Yang, how is he fairing?" asked the bald man. "Though, I think he's just asking for Yin to be honest."

"He's doing fine, as far as I know. As bad an actor as Yin-Yang is compared to the more seasoned Rangers, they seem to be able to pull the wool over the teachers' eyes." said Lionus.

"Poor acting is understandable, the boy hasn't been with us long enough to be completely comfortable with a change of identity." said the man with a smile. "I remember a young man who came to us quite a few years ago...couldn't act to save his life."

Lionus smiled. "Stuff it Doctor."

"Now, now, don't be that way." said the doctor with a smile. "Who else can I pick on, but one of my favorite patients?" Then the smile turned to a slight frown. "How did Yin make it through Halloween without you or I there? That boy tends to get reduced to a depressed adolescent."

Lionus growled softly. "Dumbledore, he stayed with Harry until the boy fell asleep in his arms."

The older man blinked. "Well, at least the boy has a support system." said the Doctor. "But, you don't like Dumbledore, do you?"

"You know why, Nicodemus." snapped Lionus.

"Easy now, Lionus." said Dr. Nicodemus carefully. "I know why, but I do think that you have dragged this grudge far enough."

Lionus sat and stared at the fire, quickly falling into a sullen mood. He didn't hate the man enough to dedicate his life to trouncing the old man, but that didn't mean that he was willing to share his Captain with him. Not that he would admit it out loud, Harry...was...

All of a sudden he leaped back from the edge of the couch, a tall, thin, bearded man came in through the fireplace, without so much as a warning.

"Mr. Pepper, you'd better come with me, it's Harry." said Dumbledore hurriedly, his face pale. "I have some Floo powder here to bring you to Hogwarts."

Dr. Nicodemus and Lionus both stood up quickly.

"I realize this is sudden..." said Dumbledore taking out his wand and pointing it at Dr. Nicodemus, preparing to obliviate the man.

Lionus and Dr. Nicodemus flinched, Memory charms on a Healer for the Rangers could prove devastating if the spell was too strong and the wrong memories were erased.

"Don't bother." said Dr. Nicodemus, taking his own wand out of his pocket.

Lionus looked at Dr. Nicodemus, shock quickly etching itself on his face.

"You..." said Lionus slowly. Revealing Dr. Nicodemus was far from the plan, but Dumbledore showing up like this was far from being any part of any plan, also this was a safer path then losing Nicodemus until he could regain his memories.

_It was customary for Rangers to at least once a month pour their memories into pensieves and keep them under the strongest lock and key, just in case of accidental memory loss. Magical or otherwise. Despite being an emergency fail safe, the restoration of memories could take a while, depending on what was lost. _

_Losing a Healer even for a little while could spell the difference between life and death to the Rangers and the victims they were forced to bring back._

"Mr. Pepper, please come with me, both of you if you wish." said Dumbledore, his voice tight. He had to get back to secure the stone, he had sent McGonagall to investigate the challenges that lay beneath the trapdoor. He couldn't spend much time here. Though, Mr. Pepper knowing a wizard, was a bit unsettling, but he couldn't dwell on that at the moment.

"How are you doing?" asked Yang as he hovered near Harry's face.

"_It's getting harder to breathe, I can't hold it off much longer." _thought Harry.

"Maybe we should switch, give you some time to rest." said Yang.

"_No, you're the last resort, we can't use you up yet." thought Harry. _

"You're the Center, if we lose you..." said Yang. "Then, I'm not going to be able to hold back that...thing..."

"_You can do it." _thought Harry.

"You don't understand, that thing...I agree with it sometimes. Without you...I'm not going to be able to resist it." said Yang shortly. "You're the only thing that slaps me back to sense."

The sound of thumping footsteps came from outside the room, and then Lionus and Dr. Nicodemus came into the room, Dumbledore's voice came up to the room.

"Harry...Harry...can you hear me?" said Lionus.

"Take his hand, we found he can respond easier with touch." said Dumbledore walking past the duo of men and taking Harry's hand into his own.

He didn't notice the two Rangers standing behind him turn pale and their eyes widened in shock, though Lionus did have a bit of a snarl.

"We told the staff that Harry had been attacked, only McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, Snape and Hagrid are aware of the true nature of the attack." said Dumbledore.

"Why not disperse the knowledge?" said Lionus.

"Harry was poisoned, and a type of poison that we couldn't figure out." said Dumbledore. "Someone in this school had to have done this...no student could have perpetrated this crime...so I only told a select few teachers, and told them to keep it to themselves. The students that were here are right now in my office being watched by Pomona...the Herbology teacher."

"So as to not panic the students." said Dr. Nicodemus.

"And perhaps find out who attempted this assault." said Dumbledore sternly, his jaw firm. He gave Harry's hand a final squeeze, "I'll send for Filius, he will stay with you while I tend to something." said Dumbledore.

"What do you need to do?" asked Lionus shortly.

"It was a combined attack, someone poisoned Harry, while trying to steal something else. I need to secure the item, I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Alright." said Dr. Nicodemus in a hushed whisper as Dumbledore left the room, "We don't have much time then, help me Lionus."

From the insides of Dr. Nicodemus' coat, he removed a long vicious looking needle and pulled the covers back from Harry's chest.

"Hold the boy down, I need to get to the poison." said Dr. Nicodemus. "Breathe lad, breathe...I'm going to do this quick." He pulled on the syringe as a the poison began to pool within. "That's it, almost done...just about...got it..."

"Sweet lord." said Lionus softly.

As Dr. Nicodemus removed the needle, he looked at the liquid inside the small phial at the end. It was a black, vile and glutinous looking concoction.

"What the hell is that?" asked Lionus looking at the syringe in shock.

"I'm not sure, but this was all that there was, they must have stumbled on an antidote or used the Headmaster's little fail-safe." said Dr. Nicodemus. "I'll find out what this is when we get back."

The doctor lifted Harry's lids carefully. "He's completely out of it. Lionus, do me a favor, open that window, whatever that smell is, it's making me feel a trifle ill."

As the Ranger chief opened the window, Dr. Nicodemus, waved his wand in the air and captured a bit of the air in the room and stored it carefully in his cloak. "Just in case."

"What about Yang?" asked Lionus quietly. "Is he alright?"

"I can see him." said Dr. Nicodemus nodding upwards. "He's just fine, he must not have had much contact with this, Yin-Yang would be completely comatose if they both had been exposed to it." He tapped the syringe with his finger.

"How could this have happened? Yin-Yang is immune to most common poisons." said Lionus. "They should have just shook it off."

"This isn't normal, this is...I'm not too sure, but the way they got it into him, you need to step in." said Dr. Nicodemus.

"I can't, this will blow his entire cover." said Lionus quietly.

"Do they know what you do for a living?" asked Dr. Nicodemus.

"I told them I was in Marketing." said Lionus. "Can't exactly throw out deductions and make an investigation."

"Amateur sleuth than." said Dr. Nicodemus. "I don't need any of my other boys getting saddled with this. Make an estimated guess, I don't really care."

"Qu-Qu..." whispered Harry softly, through his labored breath but then fell silent.

"Qu?" said Lionus looking confused, then his eyes flashed. "Quirrell."

"Nail the bastard." said Dr. Nicodemus.

Professor Flitwick sat down at in one of the chairs beside the fire, giving the man time to be with his young charge, from what he had heard, the man could have lost the child...he must have been devastated when he heard.

Pomona had to console Hagrid when they told him that the three headed dog he had loaned them was killed, even more so when he learned that Harry had almost lost _his _life that night, and vowed to avenge the both of them. Now the man was sitting in his hut and hopefully not drinking, the half-giant wasn't violent, but he could be a bit over emotional.

He heard the door that led to Potter's bedroom open and close softly. He turned and saw the man Dumbledore described as Mr. Pepper coming down, his face pale.

"Are you alright?" asked Flitwick.

"Who did this to him?" said Lionus coldly.

Flitwick looked down at his lap. "We do not know. We don't even know how it happened."

_Well, you're no help then. Yang couldn't offer up anything either when Nicodemus translated for me. How could this have happened? All the kids ate the same things, drank the same things...they all should be dead.._

He looked around the room inspecting everything carefully.

"If you'd like, I could help you." said Flitwick from the tall man's elbow.

Lionus turned and looked at him.

"You're trying to find out how this happened, are you not?" said Flitwick.

"Y-Yeah." said Lionus.

"Hmm...well, I've been thinking about that as well, the others too...all the food has been checked, all the drinks and even that simmering cauldron in the corner." said Flitwick.

Lionus looked over at the cauldron that was on the floor. "What's pouring out of there?" asked Lionus.

"It's just a harmless scented smoke, we checked that first...not because of who gave it to the lad, but it was here all day." said Flitwick.

Lionus looked thoughtful.

The door opened quickly, and in came a quivering Professor Quirrell. "T-The Headmaster wants to see you, F-Filius."

"Thank you, Quirinus..." said Flitwick. "I'll leave them in your capable hands. Mr. Pepper, if you need anything just send word with the ghosts."

"Us sir." said the Fat Friar coming in through the wall.

As his cover dictated, Lionus jumped a foot away.

"When Harry told me about this...I thought he was kidding." said Lionus with a nervous smile.

"It does take the students a while to get used to in their first year." said Flitwick with a smile. "Now, I need to see to the Headmaster."

After Flitwick left, Lionus looked at the turbaned man critically.

"So...who are you?" said Lionus. _Quirinus Quirrell, Professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts, severely lacking teacher from Harry's verbal reports, but this is the one that Harry named the best he could...does Harry suspect him...if there was a reason, he would have told Yang...but if there was definite proof, they would have told me that this guy was shady. Though, got to admit, he doesn't really look like a threat...but he's my prime and only suspect as of right now..._

"I-I'm Pr-Professor Qui-Quirrell." said Quirell stammering slightly. "The Defen-Defense Against th-the Dark A-Arts is my-my spe-speciality."

"Yeah, Harry told me about you...you got a speech impediment or something?" said Lionus, inwardly smirking at how rude he sounded.

"N-N-No, just...just fr-frayed ner-nerves." said Quirrell. "I...I'm sorry about...P-Potter."

"Thanks." said Lionus glumly.

"T-The en-entire staff heard that the b-boy was attacked..." said Quirrell quietly.

"Yeah..." said Mr. Pepper.

A thick silence came between the two of them. Quirrell was looking around nervously in the room, and Lionus was looking at the floor, but keeping a watch on the turbaned man. The ghosts hovered around a little, but once they heard a crashing sound, (One of them mentioned Peeves) they all left to investigate.

Lionus kept an eye on the teacher, he had to be sure to get the correct man, decimating the whole school would bring him satisfaction, but he'd have hell to pay for it if he did.

_Despite having free reign (where most law enforcement officers were forbidden to go or do), when a Ranger is attacked while on assignment and cannot continue, Rangers cannot attack anyone at will. Like the normal law enforcement, Rangers will pool all resources to find the attacker. _

_If the attack was covert, Rangers will quietly gather evidence to find the attacker and when absolute proof is attained, the attacker will be captured alive and taken straight to Hell's Garden, the Ranger prison. _

_For example, the case of the legendary attack on the Ranger Healer Glacier: Glacier was out collecting different ingredients for the potions and soothing healing baths that are used in healing the Rangers. Generally Healers were advised not to go out into the field, but only he and Dr. Nicodemus were free and able to locate the ingredients he needed._

_He was halfway through his gathering when out of apparently thin air he was surrounded by cloaked men. They were a band of dark wizards that didn't know exactly who or what they had stumbled upon, but this was their supposed territory and in their opinion,Glacier had no business in being there. _

_Half of them used a entrapment charm to stop the Healer from leaving the enclosed circle they formed around him, and the other half simultaneously used fiendfyre and they all apparated away before they could be caught in the crossfire, and left the Healer to die. _

_Thankfully, the Healer wasn't alone in his gathering and Dr. Nicodemus was just a few small hills over, rooting out Mandrakes. Dr. Nicodemus heard the roar of the fiendfyre and the yells of his comrade and came to his rescue. But Glacier still received several terrible burns all over his body and was bedridden for well over a six months. _

_Glacier's ability: able to control and manipulate ice, was nonexistant until his burns were completely gone. Rendering him, completely vulnerable as a Ranger and had to stay at Headquarters under complete twenty-four hour Captain level protection. _

_When Glacier was able to reveal the identities of his attackers, the Captains, Star Captain and Chief of the Rangers gathered together, ordering the Rangers under their command to investigate the wizards Glacier described, making doubly sure they were there and they were the ones that attacked the Healer. _

_Once their identities were confirmed through Glacier's testimony and the use of a pensieve, the wizards that attacked the Healer were captured and taken to Hell's Garden, level thirteen.* Where within less than a fortnight, they all perished._

Quirrell then turned to Lionus, and slowly withdrew his wand.

"I suppose I'd better take care of this now, before the Headmaster get's back." said Quirrell carefully.

"What do you mean, what do you have to do?" asked Lionus. _Was this guy insane? Intricate plans are not this guy's , at least I don't have to hear him stutter anymore._

"I'll have to take care of Potter...and you." said Quirrell pointing his wand at the man.

"What?" said Lionus taking a step back. He hoped this twisted teacher was as dramatic as himself, give the apparent victim their life story or the reason behind it all...

"No offense to you, but I know that Potter was poisoned, and I _know how and where _he was poisoned." said Professor Quirrell with a sneer.

"What do you mean?" asked Lionus. _If Yin had gotten caught, he would have obliviated Quirrell's mind, how did he not know he was caught?_

"I don't know how he got into my office, but that scent, it's the same scent that my master's potion has."

"_Master_?" said Lionus, this was a new development. "Who is that?"

"A powerful wizard, mightier than the senile old fool that heads this school." said Quirrell with a sneer. "Though, as I said, how Potter got a hold of the potion, I do not know. But...it won't matter how, once I finish where the potion ended."

"That's what you think." said Lionus with a smirk.

"What can a _muggle _do against me?" said Quirrell with a similar smirk.

Lionus smiled brightly, and flicked his wrist, a wand fell down into his hand.

"W-What...but..." stammered Quirrell, for the first time genuinely looking fearful. "The Headmaster...he said..."

"Never completely believe what you're told." said Lionus with a sneer. Lionus flicked his wand towards Quirrell and the man was engulfed in a blast of darkness. When the darkness disappeared, the man was gone.

"Well, that was easy, anti-climatic, but easy." said Lionus with a disappointed look. "I'll deal with him later, now to set this new...unexpected scene."

"You and your dramatics..." said Dr. Nicodemus coming down the stairs. "What happened?"

"Quirrell is now in our custody, but you'll need to trash the room for me, and then...maybe give me a bleeding gash or two." said Lionus looking around the room.

"...I prefer _not _to inflict the damage that I'll have to heal later..." said Dr. Nicodemus sourly.

"I've seen you healing minor wounds, are you _sure _about not liking to inflict damage?" said Lionus with a smirk.

"Stifle it boy, I'll get the room all nice for you." said Dr. Nicodemus "Now, don't move, I don't want to heal an even worse wound just because you can't stand the pain."

"I'll be fine." said Lionus, "Just get it over with."

"Patience brat." said Dr. Nicdomues.

"Well, I know who Yang takes after..." muttered Lionus, whereas Dr. Nicodemus was thinking the same thing about the man before him.

* * *

**Don't worry, we'll be getting to learn more about Hell's Garden soon enough.**

**Thanks for reading, please review! **

**Question of the Chapter! What's your favorite thing to put on a Gingerbread house? **

**ALSO! The poll is still on, if you haven't voted for your favorite story choice do it now! The one that wins will have it's first chapter posted on Christmas Day.**


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